The authors of a particular study have just published the results fo their work in Cell Discovery, an important academic journal. Their very study is essential, as it paves the way for future research when ti comes to corroborating the results, especially in human populations.
Infection
Just like all other viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is one that attaches itself to the membrane of the host cell. It then inserts its genetic material and it uses the very resources of the cell in order to create more and more replica viruses. By using these very techniques, the viruses can spread wildly through the body of the infected person.
Preventive Measures
One of the preventive measures that people have been recommended to use in order to avoid SARS-CoV-2 is to wash their hands regularly. Well, it now seems that soap can remove the contaminated material and even damage the outer envelope of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, even if it does not kill the virus outright, thus eliminating the possibility of it attaching to other cells in the body of the person.
Remdesivir
Some antiviral drugs that target the new coronavirus work through a different method. They do not attempt to damage the outer membrane of the virus, but instead try to bind with the component of the virus that attaches itself to the cells of the host. In this case, the virus is essentially disarmed and cannot replicate itself anymore. That is exactly the way in which remdesivir, the current most popular drug, works.
Alternative
It would seem, however, that there is something that works even better. A recent study seems to indicate that seaweed could be a much more effective treatment to SARS-CoV-2 than remdesivir is. Heparin is a blood thinner that is commonly extracted from seaweed. One of the substances extracted from heparin can destroy SARS-CoV-2 with a much higher efficiency than remdesivir.