Not exactly true.
Although the virus might escape through skin pores or reproduce while on the skin , it is doubtful.
What seems more likely is that Once a person becomes symptomatic, they have been 'leaking' from their orifices onto themselves. Coughing, sneezing, vomiting, boom.... it would show up on their skin. Depending on the conditions (like clothing and perspiration) the virus could survive a long time.
Or from the sweat glands.
I believe that just about any “virus” can survive for long periods of time under the right conditions, cool, dark, damp, etc.
There was a time when viruses weren’t even considered to be living things because they can’t reproduce without the assistance of a living cell.
Now, prions - those, very clearly, are NOT living things, which is one of the reasons that only EXTREMELY heat (by biological standards) can render them inert.