If you’ve been following the news for the past several months, chances are you’ve already heard about a type of coronavirus, specifically COVID-19, a topic that’s brought up a lot of questions when it comes to buying items made or shipped from the other side of the world.
We want to ease your worries about products, specifically furniture and home decor, manufactured and shipped from overseas.
Some customers have expressed concern about particles from the virus being present in the packaging, cartons and even contaminating the items that are coming from other countries.
There is no need to fear your furniture!
Here’s why:
First things first, unless you plan on eating your furniture, coronaviruses can’t survive outside a living organism for very long. All joking aside, viruses cannot multiply on their own. Meaning, they need a living host to infect cells to continue to multiply. They require DNA or RNA to stay contagious. Some of you might remember, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, like the talking lounge chair on this popular 1990s kids show, unless your lounge chair or your sofa is alive, the virus isn’t going to be infectious without a living host for very long.
Secondly, to further help ease your mind, based on scientific studies regarding other coronaviruses, the ability for these types of viruses to remain active when on the surface of objects is extremely short. This includes plastic, metal, wood and even more porous surfaces such as fabric. It only takes a few hours to several days, depending on what the surface is made from, to no longer be active. Basically, its ability to infect goes away fairly quickly.
Now let’s get to our furniture, if somehow there were virus particles in the cartons or shipping containers from overseas, the virus would no longer be infectious in the amount of time it takes for the items to be packaged and shipped. This can be anywhere from 5 weeks or more. Meaning, if the virus was present, it will no longer be infectious by the time that luxurious velvet sofa or set of modern dining chairs reaches your front door.
From what we know about the virus, it likely spreads through droplets of fluid. This means, the virus is likely to be transferred from person to person or from animal to person. Some of which can be present in the air but not for very long on surfaces of objects. Similarly to other coronaviruses, it is likely to be contracted by sneezing, coughing, kissing and sharing a bottle of water with another person or an animal, those forms of close contact.
To top it off, our skin is actually one of the best surfaces for killing viruses. It is extremely antimicrobial. Your skin is one of the first lines of defense for many viruses. In fact, infectious particles can disappear on the skin within 20 minutes. It’s important to note, viruses have short timelines for their ability to infect without the right conditions. They need just the right amount of moisture, living hosts (as in humans and animals), warm temperatures, and a variety of other factors to “survive.” It is not just one of these factors, it requires many, if not all of them.
If you are still concerned and you want to take extra precautions, recycle your packaging materials after your item arrives, wipe it down and wash your hands immediately after touching surfaces of furniture or other objects.
We wouldn’t advise you wipe your hand across any surface and then stick your hand in your mouth immediately afterwards!
Please refer to www.cdc.gov, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to read more about COVID-19. For regular updates on specifically, coronavirus, COVID-19.
Please also refer to www.pbs.org, article, “How Long Do Cold and Flu Viruses Stay on Public Surfaces.” This article goes into more scientific detail about the lifespan of coronaviruses, how they spread and the conditions they need to remain infectious.
We hope this helps relieve any anxiety or any fears you may have about ordering furniture and home decor manufactured, packaged or shipped from overseas.
Feel free to contact our customer support team, if you have any questions regarding COVID-19 and your purchase!
Credit: https://blog.inmod.com/?p=13846
