In this day and age, everyone is reliant on delivery drivers. From everything we order on Amazon to every day food and groceries–it’s all being delivered by someone. Especially now, during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, many people are not going out, but relying on a delivery service to bring them the items they need.
So many are have started to ask the question, can the coronavirus live on the packages that are being delivered? What if my delivery driver tests positive for the virus and he delivered my packages? When I touch that package, does that mean I may get it too?
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday found that coronavirus could be detected up to three hours after aerosolization in the air, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
“This virus is quite transmissible through relatively casual contact, making this pathogen very hard to contain,” said James Lloyd-Smith, a co-author of the study and a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. “If you’re touching items that someone else has recently handled, be aware they could be contaminated and wash your hands.”
The study attempted to mimic the virus being deposited onto everyday surfaces in a household or hospital setting by an infected person through coughing or touching objects, for example. The scientists then investigated how long the