Sending items door to door seem to be part of my new normal nowadays. In a week, I’d be sending a document or two to someone for work or for my kids’ school. At the same time, I buy packages online from Shopee or Lazada almost twice or even thrice as much compared before the pandemic so I always receive parcels twice or thrice a week.
But after learning that one of our local celebrities got infected with COVID-19 possibly due to the packages he received since he claims he does not go outside of his condominium, I became more cautious of the packages I receive. I simply spray alcohol on the parcels and leave then them outside for a while, though I’m not sure if I’m doing it correctly.
As I check the status of my packages before they get on my doorstep, I realized that the packages go through a lot of places from the seller to the city hub going to another hub, storage, and then delivery rider delivers it. So in other words, the parcel came from a lot of places and you’ll never know if a person with COVID-19 got in contact with it. So it’s best if we disinfect the parcels before we open it.
So what is the proper way of disinfecting your parcels? According to a Huffington Post article, here are some tips on how to open and clean your packages :
1. Request Contact-Free Delivery. A lot of 3rd party delivery services nowadays (especially food deliveries) offer this option where the rider will simply leave the deliveries on the door step and you’ll pick it up yourself. Payment should be done online already so the rider doesn’t have to wait for you to pick it up. It can also be done with parcels which is why proper labeling is important like the custom packaging ones with packing list envelopes. Speaking of packing list envelopes, I used to just write the address on paper and tape it on the parcel. When the parcel was received, the writings on the paper were almost erased due to weathering and handling so packing envelopes are really important to secure the parcel's information.
2. Try to open the packages outside your household. According to Webmd, Corona virus can survive on cardboard or shipping boxes for 24 hours so to be safe, you can leave the boxes outside after a day. Sometimes, I can’t wait anymore so I spray alcohol on the boxes, wait for 1 hour, open the box outside, spray some alcohol inside the box, wait a few minutes, and then wipe the items.
3. Dispose packaging quickly. After opening your parcels, get rid of the box or plastic bag/bubble wraps from the package and throw them outside. After that, sanitize any of the surfaces in your home that the packaging touched.
4. Wash your hands. This is the most important part of all. After opening your packages, wash your hands. After getting rid of your boxes and sanitizing the surfaces, wash your hands. Wash them for 20 seconds, many times a day. It’s easy to do, and it’s one of our most thorough protections against the virus
