Coronavirus (COVID-19) Prevention & Safety

CORONAVIRUS SHIPPED ITEMS SAFETY & PREVENTION

Today (March 13th 2020), President Trump has declared National Emergency in in regards to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) virus. This has understandably made many nervous about this new, highly infectious virus and it's becoming much more widespread quickly.

*Disclaimer: We are not and do not claim to be medical professionals, subject matter experts or scientists, we've created this page to the best of our ability on the understanding and information we have. This pandemic and understanding of COVID-19 Coronavirus is also evolving. Our safety list may not be complete and this info is subject to change as the understanding of this pandemic and its associated COVID-19 Coronavirus evolves.

Due to the national emergency announced today and the seriousness of this pandamic, we added this page listing ways to help you protect yourself when receiving items in the mail or shipped to you.

It should be noted, these suggestions aren't specific to our products, but rather its good practice and safeguard for "EVERY and ALL" products you buy or touch in our daily lives, whether it's products/objects in public places, at your local stores, and for all your daily mail and shipments! Although the risk is believed to be low for shipped items, there's no harm in being extra safe anyways, and be diligent and follow the robust hand washing and sanitizing guidelines similar to after being near other persons and/or touching objects in public.

Per the CDC, the risk is believed to be low for shipped products because the survivability is believed to be low due to the limited lifespan the virus has on surfaces, however we also realize knowledge of this pandemic and its associated virus are ever changing and understandably this makes many concerned. There are also ways to protect yourself further, you should also do, as itnever hurts being extra safe and diligent regardless whether buying items in a local store and for items are shipped to you. Below are common safe measures to help keep you safe.

It's has been recently found that the COVID-19 Coronavirus can live on cardboard boxes for up to 24 hours and on harder surfaces such as plastic and metal for up to three days, as such the highest risk of contamination is likely by infected individuals whom had the most recent contact domestically, such as UPS or US postal workers within a nearby shipping hub on the way to your home, a worker at your local post office or UPS center, a warehouse worker packing the order within the fulfillment center, and/or the local US postal driver or UPS driver that delivers your packages to your home may be infected and not know it.

Doesn't matter where you buy your items online or locally, to play it safe, you can apply similar safety precautions with your every day shipments to your home, as you would when touching objects in public, such as:

Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Yourself:

If possible leave your daily package(s) outside for a few extra days before bringing it inside (even if it took more than 3 days to get to your home, the person (such as your local UPS or USPS delivery driver) could be infected and not know it).
Just like when objects in public stores, you can play it safe by also avoiding the touching of your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands after touching/handling new packages, boxes, objects, and products shipped to you, (also follow this rule when touching objects at your local stores and in public places too).
Similarly as you would after touching objects / products at your local stores / public places, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after handling new packages and products shipped to you as well. When soap and running water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand rub with over 60% alcohol.
People age 2 and older should wear masks in public settings and when around people who don’t live in their household.
Masks offer some protection to you and are also meant to protect those around you, in case you are unknowingly infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
If you have gloves, use can them while opening outer and inner shipping boxes and packaging, and product, however be aware not to touch your face, eyes, mouth or nose with them, and still wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after removing them (as you hands often become contaminated whilst removing your gloves).
Frequently wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. When soap and running water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand rub with over 60% alcohol.
On product and their associated packaging boxes, you may use alcohol wipes with over 70% (higher the better) alcohol content, (if not available, Lysol wipes are also believed to also kill the virus) to disinfect their surfaces, but also don’t forget to also wash your hands with soap and water afterwards for at least 20 seconds too after handling recently received boxes and products and remember not to touch your face mouth, nose, or eyes beforehand.
Carefully dispose of boxes and packaging in an outdoor trash container, (don't forget about not touching your face, eyes, mouth, or nose until your wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after handling new packages and products).
Rubbing alcohol and lysol and their wipes thereof should never be consumed, when purchasing food or ingested items, use something meant for those items / purpose.
If there was cross-contamination on another surface, also sanitize the surface the product(s), box, and/or packaging were resting on..
Note: personal daily items such as your cell phones, smartphones, sunglasses, you should actually be disinfecting already regularly because they're often in our hands and near our faces and mouth, as such pose higher contamination risk than shipped items, due to our frequent, personal contact with them. Use their manufacturer recommendations on how to disinfect these items regularly.
Always wash hands that are visibly soiled.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay at least 6 feet away from others (maintain social distancing) regardless if they appear sick or not, and avoid groups of people.
Handshaking, fist bumps, or shoulder bumps should be avoided entirely..
Don’t share personal items with others. This includes things like drinking glasses, utensils, toothbrushes, and lip balm.
Wipe down high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, keyboards, and stair rails in your home with household cleaners or a diluted bleach solution.
Wash your hands robustly for 20 seconds with soap and water or use a more than 60% alcohol hand sanitizer after also touching surfaces like elevator or ATM buttons, gas pump handles, and grocery carts.
Stay home and call your doctor if you start having respiratory issues and think your symptoms are consistent with those of COVID-19.

Not only for products shipped daily to your home, but also Items you may using daily already, such as your cell phone and eyeglasses you should already be disinfecting regularly, because our cellphones, smartphones, eyeglasses are personal items used often on our faces and frequencty touch with our hands.. Additionally you may often expose your current cellular phones and sunglasses in public and/or touch often with your hands that may have been contaminated whilst in the publicc, making their risk of exposure higher The wiping with 70% alcohol wipes or lysol wipes, may not be recommended for your cell phone model however Please seek info from your cell phone manufactuer on the proper procedure to protect you and your phone from the COVID-19 virus.

It should be noted, this info isn’t specific to only our products, but rather with almost everything involved in your daily lives during this pandemic. Before and after eating, being in the public, any nearby person to person contact (avoid hand shaking entirely if possible) and any products and packages you currently have shipped daily to your home daily and/or or items and objects you've touched at your local stores and public areas as well.

Regardless if it's touching objects in your local stores, public places,, or objects / products shipped to you, perform a good robust 20 second or longer hand washing with soap and water after touching / handling newly purchased items and any objects you may touch in public places (door knobs, etc).

You can also wipe the surfaces of objects with alcohol wipes of 70% alcohol content or higher, but if not available, lysol wipes are also believed to kill the virus. Also make sure to do another robust hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after wiping the surfaces and/or handling / touching the objects / products afterwards however.

Try to remember to never touch your eyes, mouth, nose, or face with unwashed hands.

Regardless of product or whom or what you buy,or if it's, whether it's purchased online or at a local store, just make it a good practice and a habit to always use robust hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after touching or handling new items, whether purchased at a local store shipped to you, and not touching your eyes, mouth, nose, or face prior to washing your hands robustly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

At this time, the CDC States:

While we don’t know for sure that this virus will behave the same way as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, we can use the information gained from both of these earlier coronaviruses to guide us. In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses 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. Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods. Information will be provided on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) website as it becomes available.

Ref Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html