Posted in: Comics | Tagged: coronavirus comics

No, You Can't Get the Coronavirus Through Comics Delivered By Mail

Published Sun, 15 Mar 2020 07:30:22 -0500

Last updated Fri, 20 Mar 2020 17:24:20 -0500

As a number of comic stores switch regular orders to mail order, as a result of fears over the coronavirus, and Amazon marketplace also gets a massive bump, fears of the coronavirus are now switching to receiving infection fro mailed goods. However, experts state that the actual mailing process itself, whether overseas or in-country, will do as much to disinfect the package as smearing it with hand sanitiser.

This became an issue when an Amazon worker in Seattle tested positive and Amazon asked as many employees as possible in the area to work from home through the end of the month.

The CDC says there have been no documented cases of coronavirus transmitted to a person this way Dr. Jack Caravanos, clinical professor of Environmental Public Health Sciences at the NYU School of Global Public Health, told CBS News that transferred infection is "highly improbable" due to the length of the journey and the harsh conditions the package would face en route.

He did say that the coronavirus has "some environmental longevity (hours to days) depending on temperature, surface conditions, time and humidity," But the World Health Organization explained, "it is very unlikely that the virus will persist on a surface after it has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperatures" and specifically "people receiving packages from China are not at risk of contracting the new coronavirus. From previous analysis, we know coronaviruses do not survive long on objects, such as letters or packages. Shipping conditions are usually not conducive to the virus remaining viable. The disease is spread primarily by respiratory droplets directly from one person to another and this should be our focus."

Maybe give it a wipe-down if the delivery guy sneezes on the package in front of you… but your comics should be okay.