- Trish
Is Coronavirus Contagious On Delivered Packages?
With Coronavirus in our faces on TV and social media, the message is clear: take the precautions and we will get through this.
If possible, stay home. Person to person contagion is the fastest spreader of this virus especially when you and the people you come into contact with, don't even know you or they have it for the first two weeks. Which means that ordering what you need online is a very good option.
And that's where our question arises: Is Coronavirus contagious on delivered packages?
The straight answer is YES
Apparently the virus can survive for 24 hours on cardboard.
So you need to plan how you are going to handle that package that just got delivered.
The easiest way is to leave it outside for over 24 hours, but depending on where you live it may be stolen or perhaps you ordered a perishable item or maybe you are excited to get whatever it is and can't wait. If you have to bring it inside before it's 24 hour 'quarantine' is up, then think about how to do that without touching other surfaces in your home.
It could be a problem solving type game to play with your kids, before actually touching it. Heck it is a problem solving issue even if you don't have kids. Until today I wasn't overly concerned about the Coronovirus, in fact I was determined not to be panicked by the whole situation. But I feel a bit differently today after reading about what has and is happening in Italy.
I just had a package delivered. A digital thermometer I ordered on Amazon (cause some idiot dropped the old one I've had for years, into a pot of oil - I don't want to talk about that!) I assume this product came from China originally. When and where, I have no clue and what it came into contact with on its way to my front door in the last 24 hours who knows? So its probably not the 'thing' in the packaging (because 24 hours would be long past for it, BUT it is the packaging (a Kraft envelope) itself that is suspect This is what I did. I brought it inside, unwrapped it completely and took the packaging out to the big trash can outside. As a soap maker [thankfully] I still have 91% rubbing alcohol so I then sprayed my hands and the whole surface where I had unwrapped the package liberally with the rubbing alcohol. I also wiped down the back door handle and the product itself, very thoroughly, like for a few minutes. Then I washed my hands with soap and water, for longer than usual.
UPDATE: As I'm ordering as much as I can online rather than face the crowds (and empty shelves at grocery stores), I have streamlined my process somewhat.
Now, I move the packages from the front door step to an area in my garage where I have placed flattened cardboard boxes.
I place the incoming packages on those flattened boxes and then go and wash my hands thoroughly and use Chlorox wipes on the door handles.
I let those packages sit there for at least 24 hours before opening them.
Take the boxes out to the trash and wash my hands. Much simpler.
Your system may well be different, the thing is to plan what your procedure will be, to keep you and your family safe in your own home. Paranoia? Probably, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If we all get a bit paranoid and take these precautions seriously, then hopefully we won't get to the situation that Italy is in, where the hospitals cannot cope.
STAY SAFE
