New Material and Covid19

[montmill]

When we get a post my wife wipes it down with cleaning clothes. Sometimes she does the inside pieces too. When you get a new kit there's the box, the bag and all the components. What do you do with them? You have to wonder, where they were made, assembled, when and by whom. Where does it end?

 

[FGarbrecht]

Stuff in sealed bags has been inside the bags long enough that there should be no risk. COVID RNA is detectable on metal surfaces for up to 72 hours but limited data suggests that live infectious virus does not survive that long. There are a couple of tests that are relevant to this question: 1) the RT PCR which detects the presence of viral RNA, but does not tell you if that RNA is in an infectious viral package; and 2) culture tests which attempt to actually grow the virus in vitro, and can quantify the amount of infectious virus (that would be a risk to you). As I said, there is very limited data available to answer the question, and in specific instances there is NO data available so you just have to be prudent.

Since there is no 'chain of custody' for assessing risk (how long ago was the package assembled, was the packer sick?, was the handling through the postal system 'clean'?, if handled by someone who is sick did they deposit a large viral load on the package contents?), it seems prudent to wipe down the outside of packages. I don't bother cleaning items inside in sealed plastic packing because the risk is probably close to zero. In any case, it makes sense to wash hands often and to avoid touching your face after opening mail and packages.

 

[TonyL]

yes...I wondered about that when we learned the virus came from China (or wherever it came from...don't know, don't care, and not interested in discussing its origins). Despite all of the precautions I have taken with public restrooms, door knobs, subway seats for over 50 years, I will only wipe down the outside bag. I do the same with the mail (try to discard as much as possible outside). I have no idea whether or not I am really killing anything. I have been washing my hands over 50 times a day since I was a young teen......everyone else is just catching-up LOL . I have started spraying boxes with Lysol...but I don't think that really does anything. Bottomline...I am rolling the dice.

 

[Fred Bruche]

On the same line of thought that Frederick started, I believe there is no evidence that this virus will stay infectious for more than 72 hours on metal surfaces (at the greatest, under the best possible circumstances). So worse comes to worst, wipe the outside of the bag when you receive your kits and don't use them until they have been under your control for a week

 

[ed4copies]

MOST kits come by sea, the lead time for us to get them is 60 daysish.

 

[WriteON]

Trust nothing I guess. Take all reasonable precautions. But it's easy to miss something.

 

[MiteyF]

It's good to be safe, but let's not get silly. Open the box, recycle it, then maybe wash your hands. Anything beyond that is excessive and really a bit ridiculous.

 

[henry1164]

If a person were to touch something "questionable", as long as you didn't touch your face prior to washing your hands thoroughly, you should be OK. At least that's the latest info I have. So, we wash hands after any time outside - even for a short walk - receiving packages, a rare trip to the store, etc. We also wash hands after a bathroom break (as usual/normal) as well as any time we sneeze or cough. So far......so good!