Coronavirus concerns mega-thread

Viruses, unlike bacteria and parasites, can't survive for long without a live host. Some viruses can only survive for hours, but it looks like coronavirus can survive for several days. Most international shipments from China take longer to travel than the virus can survive so you probably don't need to worry about too much.

If you really want to play it safe, you can store all packages somewhere like a basement or garage, in a container perhaps, and let the virus die. Or wear disposable gloves when opening and wipe down your package, packing supplies, dolls, etc. with a wipe to kill anything remaining on the surface (Clorox/Lysol wipes). Be sure to rinse your things off after wiping.

 

I wouldn't let it bother me since it has already spread to the USA and will likely reach most other countries soon. Its not a good illness but the symptoms could be much more damaging as well.

 

I just wanna say that I love that you referenced The Simpsons.

But I agree, I'm not really worried about a virus surviving the shipping process. I work retail, and the sick people who come in the mall sniffling, coughing and sneezing...or bring in sick kids who touch everything...is much more concerning than anything shipped to me. The stuff I see daily...there's just not enough hand sanitizer in the world.

 

No, it didn't occur to me to worry about packages from China. I'm in Hong Kong though and the amount of people who will go to mainland China for Chinese New Year and mix with any of the millions of people who are travelling across the country ... well, we'll see.

 

Hi

I realise this isn't the best place to post this, but its a bit of a 'nobody knows' thing isn't it. The news is talking of China, Japan and Korea struggling with Coronavirus. Firstly thoughts n prayers for anyone affected, I hope you can all stay as safe and well as possible. But I wondered how long virus's can survive on surfaces, so if we have dolls that are just arriving, do the pose any risk?

Coronavirus | About | Transmission | CDC This site is about Transmition of the coronavirus

FIle me under paranoid. I just wan'ted to ask but wasn't sure where to ask this question

Thanks x

 

Funnily enough, someone else just brought this up. I agree with the replies that these kind of viruses don't survive outside a host for long and normally have to stay moist while outside a host so are not likely to survive during a lengthily shipping period.

 

I can't answer how long the virus lingers but usually a few weeks in the mail kills most things. The postal trucks and planes are nothing like the human body they're designed to inhabit.

That being said you can wear a mask and gloves to unbox. Maybe open the box in an area that isn't frequently used and immediately throw away packaging you don't want. You can keep your new doll in and packaging you do want in a quarantine for a week or so if you're really nervous. It's always good to wash your hands frequently when any sickness if lurking.
But if you live in an area that's experiencing winter or your package traveled through a place experiencing winter AND it's been traveling several weeks I wouldn't worry.

 

This coronavirus is actually very similar to sars (which was also A coronavirus). Coronaviruses are usually transmitted from animals to humans. Most humans will get a cold, but rarely you can develop a viral pneumonia which can potentially kill if you can’t properly fight it, but most people won’t get more than a cold. Coronaviruses are not very good at surviving outside of a host. They need moisture and cells to survive. Under optimal conditions (fridge temperatures in a wet medium) it could survive 28 days, under hot and dry circumstances it survices only a few hours. So if you are afraid of contacting something from a package from China just leave it in front of a heating source for a day or so. All visus will be dead by then if it even surviced the shipping (in winter and in wet cardboard).

 

Japan is struggling with Coronavirus? Why haven't I heard anything about this?

 

There is one case spotted in Japan as far as I know, but that was a traveller from China to Japan. Same for Korea, also just one case. Two for Thailand. And one in the US. I know places like CNN just talk about "cases" but only one for both Japan and Korea is confirmed by WHO.

source: https://www.who.int/csr/don/en/

@ OP: I wouldn't really worry too much about it now. It won't survive for long outside the human body so it is not transmittable through dolls. Unless the sender drooled all over the doll and that somehow survived during shipping but that's extremely unlikely. The fear is mostly that with the Chinese New Year people travel all over the place and spread the disease but they're taking measurements against the spreading.

 

I'm sure if it was a risk there would be some sort of precaution put in place for all products imported from those countries?
Like others said the virus shouldn't survive the journey, so I wouldn't worry too much about it spreading through packages.

 

Ehrm, viruses are actually better at surviving cold temp than hot, so traveling through winter is actually not helping.

But really, even if someone with Corona sneezed on you there is still a large chance you DON’T get it so really do not stress about getting it from a package. Unless you are completely immune defiecient and living in a bubble. In which case you should get your packages radiated before opening

 

My bad, I'm not a doctor. but it's still a small chance it'd survive in the cold through the postal services judging from everyone else's comments.

 

True. Warm or cold. But if you are somewhere hot right now you REALLY have nothing to worry about

Really do not worry about catching a virus from a package, unless the person packing it left a whole pool of snot in it so the virus has a wet medium and it being fridge temperatures (which is the optimal temp for corona to survive in a wet medium) it has only been proven to survive 20-28 days under optimal circumstances
Leave it in a 30 degrees celcius environment and its dead in 3 hours. So if you are worried, just keave the package to dry in front of a heat source (next to a radiator) and leave it there for a day) after that there is no chnce in hell there is a virus alive in there, even if the mailman sneezed corona all over it. In that case you might have already caught it from talking to him on the door. Getting viruses from innate objects is really really unlikely (its not a hollywood epidemic movie, if it was humans would have died out long time ago). So really don’t cancel orders because of that

 

In addition to all these very reasonable points... Your dolls aren't in stock. We all know by now that it takes at least two months from the fastest companies, and longer from most. By the time your order is made, boxed up, waited in a shipping warehouse, flown over in the chilly cargo hold, and passed through multiple customs and logistics points (and hands), your risk is effectively zero. There's no stories I can find of anyone ever getting sick from their mail unless it was an intentionally mailed disease.

Besides, you would have had to be some kind of psychic to actually order something that could potentially, maybe be contaminated, because you'd have to have already placed the order months ago.

It's far more likely you'd be infected via a traveler who came in contact with the virus and provided it with an ideal host than via a piece of cold, hard resin that won't be delivered for several months. There's no reason to worry about it in this context.

 

Coronaviruses are already in other countries like mine, the United States of America, though.

Most of the time you might not even know it, they just cause pneumonia or the cold. Or you may or may not be a carrier - but once you've had it you have biomarkers for it, like the patients I've treated. As someone else already mentioned, most viruses die easily on other surfaces - some of the craziest like hep. C last for a few weeks in just the right conditions, but that's kind of the exception.

What seems scary about this new one is that it seems to have mutated to be transmissible through human/human contact, but honestly that makes me wonder if other cases of coronavirus around here lately arent/weren't just subclinical enough or not enough of an endemic to fly under the radar and not warrant investigation or study. If that makes sense ? We still take full contact precautions with coronavirus patients anyway.

Also may I remind you that you should be more afraid of the flu. You're probably more likely to get that, and that can be even more deadly. So if you get a fever and you can't leave your couch, at least drink fluids, some anti-fever meds, and some sugar somehow (I really don't care what junk you eat). And if you can't eat or drink, and/or you can't treat your temperature, go to the hospital.

 

As someone who has suffered from health anxiety/germaphobia for years and knows quite a lot about bacteria and viruses, there is almost certainly nothing to worry about!

So far it does seem like this may be a particularly contagious virus, but it's definitely a stretch to worry about being infected via a contaminated object shipped internationally. As many people have said, viruses usually don't stay infectious for very long outside the body, although there are exceptions to that. Giving the heads a really thorough wash when they arrive would easily take care of the problem anyway, in the very unlikely event that any virus 'survived'.

 

Is a bit freaky. Ive been seeing alot of posts telling people to avoid it, as well as avoid looking up the virus in general if you're prone to stress and worrying HEH. I have so many posts coming from asia/china that i guess im in too deep really.