Washi Arts and the Coronavirus Pandemic

As a small business, our studio warehouse is on our home property and we are able to follow “stay-at-home” directives and continue to operate our business. We are well stocked with a good range of exquisite Japanese papers, tools and supplies, and are available to make paper recommendations for projects you are working on.

Washi Arts is shipping packages six days a week. We ship primarily using USPS (United States Postal Service) and your packages should arrive to you in one to three days in the US. If there is concern about the transmission of the coronavirus via packages we ship to you, please know we are working in a clean environment, we have been out very few times in recent weeks and are meticulous about our personal and environmental sterilization practices. However we wanted to know more.

In looking for guidance on how to advise our customers about COVID-19 transmision via packages, we found this reporting from The Wirecutter to be most comprehensive and helpful. (full article at https://thewirecutter.com/blog/coronavirus-packages/)

How long does the coronavirus live on packages?

In a guide to cleaning and disinfecting in households that have suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that “novel coronavirus may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials.” The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could survive on cardboard for up to 24 hours, according to a study conducted with members of the Laboratory of Virology with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as reported by MIT Technology Review. However, that figure is based on a very small-scale study in preprint, which means it hasn’t been published yet and has not been peer-reviewed. With the cardboard testing, which was done three times, the study says the data was “noticeably noisier” than with the other surfaces tested, and it “advises caution in interpretation.”

In its COVID-19 FAQ, the CDC talks specifically about packages and products that ship from China. For guidance, the CDC looked at previous coronaviruses and said, “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.”

Should you disinfect your packages?

The CDC’s advice on protecting yourself does not include advice on disinfecting packages. Its general advice stands: Wash your hands frequently and avoid close contact with people.

In its guide to how COVID-19 spreads, the CDC says that we don’t know exactly how the novel coronavirus is transmitted, but it’s thought to be mainly through “respiratory droplets” between people who are within 6 feet of each other. “It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes,” the CDC says, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says, similarly, in its guide to control and prevention, “At this time, there is no evidence that the COVID-19 is spread through environmental exposures, such as coming into contact with contaminated surfaces.”

To be extra-cautious, particularly if you are in a higher-risk group, you can dispose of outer packaging outside of your home and wash your hands immediately after handling. But this is likely not necessary for most people’s handling of most cardboard packages.

Remember, too, that on the way to picking up your package, you may be touching a number of things that qualify as “frequently touched surfaces,” such as an elevator button in an office building, the shared doorknob on the front door, or the stylus that you use to sign for a package. Being aware of your contact with these surfaces is just as important—and maybe more important—than the way you handle packages. Washing your hands will help reduce the risk of infection from surfaces like doorknobs, too.