Ordering Food Delivery? Be Careful, Coronavirus Could Hitch a Ride Into Your Home

We have already established that courier packages and any carboard packing can host the Coronavirus, or COVID, for many hours. As it turns out, the same fear is applicable to food delivery packages as well, some of which are cardboard. This has been confirmed by Dr John Torres, after more Amazon warehouse workers in the US tested positive for the Coronavirus. Dr Torres says that Coronavirus is active on packages for as long as 24 hours and details what you should do when you do receive a package.

The primary advice is to not let the packaging enter your home, and it must be discarded outdoors only. One option is to leave the inner packing outdoors for 24 hours, by which time the Coronavirus would no longer be active. “If you need it now you can disinfect it on the outside which should help to some extent, but the main thing is once you handle that wash your hands before you touch your face,” said Dr Torres while speaking with NBC News’ Today Show. Specifically, about take-outs from restaurants and food which is home delivered, which often come in cardboard containers, he suggests taking the food out of the cardboard packaging outside your home itself by putting the food in some utensils. “One of the things you want to do is open up the container, use some utensils to pull out the food and put it on a plate and then throw the container out and wash your hands,” he says.

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Washing your hands properly is a recurring advice, which you must follow to the fullest. Medical authorities are emphasizing on the importance of washing your hands with soap for at least 30 seconds to protect yourself against the Coronavirus infection. And yes, do digital payments to ensure you and the person delivering your food don't have to handle cash.

Earlier, a study was done by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Hamilton, Montana, Princeton University, University of California, Los Angeles and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had indicated that SARS-CoV-2 was more stable on plastic and stainless steel than on copper and cardboard, and viable virus was detected up to 72 hours after application to these surfaces.

The Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany has also pointed out that viruses can remain on surfaces and retain their infectious tendencies for up to nine days, in a room temperature environment. On average, they survive between four and five days. “Low temperature and high air humidity further increase their lifespan,” said Professor Günter Kampf from the Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine at the Greifswald University Hospital.