There’s no evidence that the new coronavirus can survive on packages for 28 days

Coronaviruses can live on surfaces for up to 28 days, so you should be careful
if you receive a package from China.

There is currently no evidence that this virus can survive on surfaces that long.
Most other coronaviruses do not. Current health advice suggests the risk of
contracting the virus from a package is very low.

A number of posts on Facebook, which have been shared thousands of times,
have warned that “if you order anything from CHINA be careful with your packages
” due to the coronavirus outbreak, because “the virus can live on a surface for up to 28 days”.
This worry is likely overstated. There is currently no evidence that this virus can survive that
long on packages. The advice from medical bodies including the NHS,
the USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
and the World Health Organisation (WHO) all say that the risk of catching
the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 from a package is low, or that there’s no evidence
this can happen.

What does the medical advice say?
The NHS says simply “There is currently no evidence that you can catch coronavirus
from parcels and letters”, and that it’s “very unlikely it can be spread through things
like packages or food.”
The CDC explains this a bit more, saying “In general, because of poor survivability of
[other coronaviruses SARS and MERS] on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of
spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or
weeks at ambient temperatures.”

And the WHO explains that: “The likelihood of an infected person contaminating
commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19
from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions
and temperature is also low.”
As Dr Todd Ellerin, an expert in infectious diseases, wrote on the Harvard Medical School
blog: “Remember, this is a respiratory virus similar to the flu. We don’t stop receiving packages
from China during their flu season. We should follow that same logic for this novel pathogen.”

What do we know about how long this coronavirus survives on surfaces?
Because the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 (technically known as SARS-CoV-2)
is a new virus, there is little direct evidence on how it behaves.
However, because coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that have been studied
for decades, it’s possible to look at the characteristics of similar viruses as
a reasonable guide to this one.

A scientific paper surveying the available evidence on how long coronaviruses can survive
on inanimate surfaces, published after the Covid-19 outbreak began, concluded that
“Human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfaces for up to 9 days.”
It’s possible that the suggestion that the novel coronavirus can survive on surfaces for 28 days
may stem from an article by AccuWeather, which referenced a 2010 study and said that at
“lower temperatures, the virus could survive on a stainless steel surface from 5 to 28 days”.
But it’s worth noting that this was a study of animal coronaviruses, not human ones,
and that the viruses lasted longest in very cold and dry conditions: at 4°C and 20% humidity.
This study was considered in the above paper that concluded human coronaviruses
can survive for up to 9 days.  

In practice, as the WHO says, a package that “has been moved, travelled, and exposed to
different conditions and temperature” is unlikely to see the virus last as long. And
as the CDC puts it, while it may be possible to pick up the virus from contaminated surfaces
in general, “this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads”.  
The main way the virus spreads is believed to be from person-to-person contact.
The best way to stop the spread of the virus remains to regularly wash your hands with soap
and water for twenty seconds, or if that’s not available, using a hand sanitiser that has
at least 60% alcohol.



By Tom Phillips

The UK’s independent fact checking charity

Royal Mail have announced changes to their delivery procedures
and practices to prevent infection.




Public Health England (PHE) has advised that people receiving parcels are not at risk of
contracting the coronavirus. From experience with other coronaviruses, we know that
these types of viruses don’t survive long on objects, such as letters or parcels.
This complements the highly publicised guidance from PHE for people to wash their hands
more often than usual using soap and hot water.  
We are actively monitoring this rapidly evolving situation. We take the health and safety
of our people very seriously. We have provided guidance to our people, our customers and
communities in which we operate, to help prevent the spread of any infection.
We are doing so in line with preventative guidance from Public Health England.

Signing for and receiving items
In order to protect both our people and customers as much as possible, we will not be
handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures.
Postmen and women will instead log the name of the person accepting the item.
This will apply to Special Delivery Guaranteed, Tracked 24/48 with Signature and
Signed For services.*
Additionally, for all customers (including those who are self-isolating) where we need
to deliver any parcel that won’t fit through your letterbox, we will place your item at
your door.
We will then step aside to a safe distance while you retrieve it. This will ensure your
item is delivered securely rather than being left outside.  
If you are unable to come to the door at all we will issue a ‘Something for You’ card,
advising of other ways you can arrange to get your item. For example, by getting
a friend or family member to collect the parcel from our local Customer Service Point
on your behalf.

Contingency plans
In the event we need to close one of our units, this decision would be made in line
with Public Health England guidance. Royal Mail has many years’ experience of
contingency planning for a number of different scenarios. We will follow
the Government’s advice and work closely with the relevant authorities.
We have extensive experience in being able to quickly deploy business contingency
plans so we continue to provide customers with access to our services and their mail.




Royal Mail