# Should I be disinfecting packages that are delivered? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 23, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105 "2020-03-23T16:55:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/21 "2020-03-23T23:29:38Z")
To add to everyone’s paranoia, a wipe down using one of the many brands of disinfecting wipes is NOT adequate. The surface needs to be WET for a certain amount of time. If you have no cuts or breaks to the skin, open the box, get your stuff out, THEN GO WASH YOUR HANDS. Handwashing is the most effective defense anyone cando. Additionally, avoid any wet spots or snot or spit on the package. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/22 "2020-03-24T01:06:44Z")
The things I ordered are probably going to be smaller boxes or bags inside larger ones. For instance: three different disposable vapes, inside plastic packaging, which will probably be inside a little bag, which will probably be inside a cardboard box. A replacement drum head for a floor tom - it will be inside a cardboard box inside a cardboard box. Should I be concerned not only about the outer packaging, but something being spread from whoever packed the products INTO the outer packaging, touching the inner packaging? ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/23 "2020-03-24T01:15:14Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > The things I ordered are probably going to be smaller boxes or bags inside larger ones. For instance: three different disposable vapes, inside plastic packaging, which will probably be inside a little bag, which will probably be inside a cardboard box. A replacement drum head for a floor tom - it will be inside a cardboard box inside a cardboard box. Should I be concerned not only about the outer packaging, but something being spread from whoever packed the products INTO the outer packaging, touching the inner packaging? No. Just make sure after you unpack everything and break down the boxes that you WASH YOUR HANDS. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/24 "2020-03-24T02:28:59Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > If you have no cuts or breaks to the skin, open the box, get your stuff out, THEN GO WASH YOUR HANDS. Handwashing is the most effective defense anyone cando. We’ve never seen a single Coronavirus transmit through a bloodborne route. The key is to not get it into your eyes, nose or throat. By default, any package that you don’t need to deal with right away, you should let sit untouched for as long as you don’t need it (disinfecting before hand if it’s stupid simple to do). For the packages you absolutely need to us right now, there’s plenty of fairly common sense suggestions in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/25 "2020-03-24T09:38:56Z")
From the New England Journal of Medicine > [@](#): > > The New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/26 "2020-03-24T12:08:40Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > From the New England Journal of Medicine Since you didn’t reference it: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973 > [@TFA](#): > > On cardboard, no viable SARS-CoV-2 was measured after 24 hours > […] > The detection limit of our experiment is 0.5 log[sub]10[/sub] TCID[sub]50[/sub]/mL. Emphasis on the per mil. They measured a half-life on cardboard of ~3.5 hours. Don’t lick your packages. Wash your hands. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/27 "2020-03-24T17:33:50Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > We’ve never seen a single Coronavirus transmit through a bloodborne route. The key is to not get it into your eyes, nose or throat. > > By default, any package that you don’t need to deal with right away, you should let sit untouched for as long as you don’t need it (disinfecting before hand if it’s stupid simple to do). For the packages you absolutely need to us right now, there’s plenty of fairly common sense suggestions in the thread. I know coronavirus is not bloodborne. However, it’s human nature to stick a cut or scrape in your mouth. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/28 "2020-03-24T20:40:45Z")
I received one Amazon package in the mailbox today. Here’s the procedure I used: I took a pair of long-handled gardening shears and used them to open the door of the mailbox, remove the package (a padded paper mailer) and dragged it to the back deck of the house, where I sliced the end of the bag open with the shears, then grabbed the bag (with the shears) and held it up so that the contents fell out onto the deck on a separate area. Then used the shears to toss the packaging in the recycling bin, and placed the shears back into the garage. I know I sound like Howard Hughes here but I figure, what’s the HARM exactly in using caution like this when it’s not overly inconvenient to do so? The fact is, any packages that get sent through the mail are probably handled by numerous people, and this is one way of circumventing a possible chain of infection, however slim the chances. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/29 "2020-03-27T17:54:33Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I’ve ordered a number of things on Amazon that are going to be arriving over the next few days. But I’ve seen some troubling figures on how long the virus can last on different surfaces. On paper/cardboard and plastic, it can apparently remain contaminated for four days. > > When these packages are delivered, should I spray bleach or some other fluid on them (while they are sitting on the porch) before I bring them into the house? Or is that just taking “precaution” too far? They found COVID19 RNA on some surfaces on a cruise ship 17 days after the ship was empty. This might not be enough to infect you. These are outliers. Generally 3 days should be safe unless you have someone that is especially susceptible in your home. It depends on who lives with you. Rules change if you have an 80 year old chemotherapy patient, or someone like that, in your household. The point behind this mitigation is not so that noone ever gets the virus. The point is that we transmit slowly enough that our healthcare system does not get overwhelmed. Right now it looks like the incidence of people getting the virus from deliveries is so low as to be undetectable when there is no actual human contact (signing for stuff, etc.). If it makes you feel better, you can leave stuff in your garage for a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/30 "2020-03-27T18:21:12Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > From the New England Journal of Medicine I keep seeing these reports referenced, but without additional information to what it actually means. When they’re detecting active virus on surfaces, is there any info on how much they’re finding, and how that compares to how much virus it takes for a reasonable risk of infection? Without this info, I can’t interpret these reports as anything but fear based click bate. (for comparison, 200,000 sperm count per ml sounds like a lot without reference but would be way too low to realistically get someone pregnant) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/31 "2020-03-27T19:12:36Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > I keep seeing these reports referenced, but without additional information to what it actually means. When they’re detecting active virus on surfaces, is there any info on how much they’re finding, and how that compares to how much virus it takes for a reasonable risk of infection? Without this info, I can’t interpret these reports as anything but fear based click bate. (for comparison, 200,000 sperm count per ml sounds like a lot without reference but would be way too low to realistically get someone pregnant) I quoted some of this information and provided the article DOI. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/32 "2020-03-27T22:44:13Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Though, one thing to consider is that to some extent the goal isn’t so much to _not get sick_ as it is to not get sick _at the wrong moment_. > > If you’re young, healthy, have no underlying conditions, have someone who can take care of you, a good supply of food, and can stay away from other people for a few weeks, then it might be a good time to get sick and gain immunity. (Obviously, there is the risk that you have an underlying condition that you didn’t know about.) > > But, if you figure that slowly, we will all become less good about being strict and more expected to go to the workplace, go to public events, etc. _even though we shouldn’t_, then getting sick then will be worse because you will be contagious and in regular contact with others. > > If you can get sick and not be a drag on the hospital system, right now, then it’s sort of a social good. But, you need to be **damn sure** that you won’t become a drag on the hospital system. Ugh. No no no. This is so very wrong. If we manage to beat this first wave of infection and get better testing and case tracking set up, there’s a very good chance that when you get sick could be _never_. Do not take fewer precautions now because it’s better to get sick now than later. It’s better not to get sick. Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105/33 "2020-03-27T23:24:12Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Ugh. No no no. This is so very wrong. > > If we manage to beat this first wave of infection and get better testing and case tracking set up, there’s a very good chance that when you get sick could be _never_. Do not take fewer precautions now because it’s better to get sick now than later. It’s better not to get sick. > > Christ. Agreed. Moreover, the longer we can outrun the bear, the more and better interim treatments will be developed. Even as a vaccine is researched, there may be drugs that can ameliorate symptoms enough that people who might have once required a ventilator, won’t. The virus may mutate into something less lethal. Lots of things can happen that make getting sick avoidable or less dangerous. Everyone should do their best to dodge this bullet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-disinfecting-packages-that-are-delivered/850105.md?page=1)