Experts are recommending disinfecting gift parcels and sending cards early as precautions against coronavirus this Christmas.
While medics have stated that the risk of spreading the virus through the post is “really low”, they have recommended that vulnerable people take additional steps to protect themselves.
Respiratory medicine specialist Professor Ashley Woodcock has recommended handling post with gloves and putting delivered items on a radiator to help kill germs.
"They should accept the parcel wearing Marigolds and put it in an area or on a table, and wipe it down with a cloth soaked in detergent, leave it for 30 minutes, and then it's very safe,” he added.
Dr Lena Ciric – a molecular biology specialist – has added that coronavirus thrives in “cold and dry” conditions, like in delivery warehouses and trucks. But the transit time makes “a big difference” to whether the virus survives.
Previous laboratory experiments found that the virus can only live on packaging materials like cardboard for a maximum of 24 hours.
Ciric also recommends sending gifts and cards from the start of December, so recipients have time to quarantine parcels.
"The likelihood that a gift or card sent in the post by an infected person would have enough virus on it to cause an infection is really low,” she says.
"I think chances are there's not going to be enough stuff on the gift at the time of contamination, let alone at the time it gets there."
It can also live on mobile phone screens and banknotes for up to four weeks, according to research published by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO.
A OnePoll survey commissioned by John Lewis also showed that people are planning Christmas earlier than usual this year.
70 per cent said they planned to post more or the same amount of Christmas cards this year than last – a trend that is supported by increased card sales in 2020.
