It has been around two months since the coronavirus pandemic spread throughout the planet. These past two months have seen so much chaos, fear, panic, grief, and all sorts of other emotions.

The past couple of months have felt so long... it feels as if two whole years have passed already. And still, there is no respite in sight. Many countries are still in lockdown and economies are barely hanging by a thread.

One can only hope that the situation is dealt with, with haste. Scientists all over the world are hard at work trying to find a cure and developing a vaccine. It will still be quite some time before they are able to do so.

However, news out of Hong Kong has raised hopes for some. It seems like scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have come up with a special disinfectant that keeps surfaces free from viruses and bacteria for months on end.

Meet MAP-1

The name of the disinfectant is MAP-1. It can kill viruses (including the coronavirus) for up to three months after use. That is exactly what the world needs right now.

The MAP-1 wasn't developed in response to the current coronavirus pandemic. In fact, it is ten years in the making. But it has come at the right time. The perfect time, in fact. If used on large scales, it can reduce public points of infection like railings, subways, doors, etc.

This could help the governments of the world lift the lockdown in a strategic way. The disinfectant has already been tested in clinical settings and has proved itself to be quite effective. In fact, it has already been used to coat low-income housing in Hong Kong to prevent the uncontrolled spread of the virus.

MAP-1 will go on sale in May in Hong Kong. Since it is very expensive, its use will be limited to schools, hospitals and businesses. As such, it won't be available for general home use right now. However, in the future, scientists could make a cheaper version that is just as effective for home use.

It is things like these that will ultimately help us defeat the coronavirus pandemic. The post-pandemic world will look very different and the use of such disinfectants regularly might become mandated by the governments amid other things.