The question on everyone’s mind these days, ‘Can you catch Coronavirus from anything coming from China even the packages?’
Fears packages could be contaminated with Coronavirus
Despite fears that it can be transported through packages, experts say the answer is no. The World Heath Organization stated that people receiving packages from China are not at risk, as previous studies of Coronavirus that emerged in the past proves that it cannot survive for long on objects like letters and packages.
America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared similar analysis saying there’s still a lot unknown about the newly emerged Coronavirus and how it spreads, but it shares similar genetic makeup to the two Coronavirus that emerged previously, MERS and SARS, to cause severe illness among the people. The 2019 Coronavirus is genetically closer to SARS than MERS, but both of them are betacoronaviruses originating in bats. Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread by respiratory droplets, and their survivability on surfaces is low over a period of days and weeks under room temperature. Henceforth, there’s currently no evidence of spread of Coronavirus through imported packages.
Nonetheless, the fear of Coronavirus causing delays in Global supplies of all sorts of products, like electronic goods, is real. Factories across China are shutting down as is reported by Australian Post that Australian stores are facing delays of days or even weeks in their shipments and the Australian government has warned that the economic consequences of this 2019 Coronavirus outbreak can be worse than the SARS outbreak of the past. Consequently, businesses are trying stocking up as there is no sign to when the delays will be over and shipping will continue. If the outbreak turns into a worse situation, the implications to the retailers in Australian markets could be horrendous.
