BEIJING: After officials suggested mail could be the source of recent coronavirus outbreaks, China’s postal service has ordered workers to sanitize international delivery and asked the public to reduce orders from outside.
Even though specialists think the risk of such surface transmission is negligible, the decision demonstrates China’s unwavering commitment to eliminating all coronavirus instances as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics next month.
Several tiny breakouts in recent weeks have put China’s tight goal of seeking zero COVID-19 cases to the test, which officials have maintained even as the rest of the globe gradually reopened.
In recent days, Chinese officials have claimed that some patients, including a woman in the capital whom authorities claim had no touch with other afflicted persons, may have been infected by parcels from abroad.
Several tiny breakouts in recent weeks have put China’s tight goal of seeking zero COVID-19 cases to the test, which officials have maintained even as the rest of the globe gradually reopened.
In recent days, Chinese officials have claimed that some patients, including a woman in the capital whom authorities claim had no touch with other afflicted persons, may have been infected by parcels from abroad.
She had a variation that was similar to those prevalent in North America.
China Post issued a statement on Monday asking employees to disinfect the outside packaging of all international mail “as quickly as feasible” and required personnel who handle foreign letters and packages to get booster immunization shots.
Domestic mail should be handled in different areas to avoid cross-contamination, according to the postal service, which also encouraged the public to limit purchases and delivery from “countries and regions with a high overseas epidemic risk.”
Infected persons spread the coronavirus by inhaling tiny liquid droplets.
Both the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that the risk of infection through contaminated surfaces, commonly known as fomite transmission, is minimal and decreasing.
Within three days, the CDC claims that viral traces on most surfaces had been reduced by 99 percent.
Source: AFP/kg/ec
