Coronavirus can be passed on money... what about paper?

Thank you peachiceteas ! So much panic going on. We booked a cruise for July. On the cruise reddit, people are going bat $hit. Like you said, you’re so much more likely to get sick handling money, going grocery shopping, using the library. I’m not saying it isn’t a serious thing, it is. But the panicking has to stop.

I'm thinking I will gladly collect everyone's virus laden money.

PSA: Anxiety, fear and worry are part of the survival instinct. Understand that when you're in a community based on an activity where the coronavirus has been front news, many people will voice concerns and possibly panic. These expressions will come in waves (not everyone goes through the realisation their own participation in said activity could be worrisome at the same time). And people will flock to these online communities to voice their concerns so it will monopolise the conversation for quite some time. As the virus spreads closer to home, the voicing of panic and fears will increase. I'd probably hang back and wait before jumping back in regularly, julie5. 

As for paper imported from China: it should be ok. The WHO have been very openly discussing this fear of imported goods since mid-January now. The surfaces most prone to carrying the virus for a significant amount of days (up to 9) are slick, non-porous, clean surfaces (glass, metal) in a stable environment. Hence all the disinfecting happening in hospitals and medical labs. If you remain unconvinced, consider that the most likely manner to carry the virus would be your actual mailman delivering you your package. I don't think many of us have been quaranting our mail for several days upon reception.    Should you still feel fearful, just put your parcel with your paper order away for a few days until you feel more comfortable handling it. Do NOT put your "suspicious" stuff in an airtight sealed container (you want the environment to be unstable, air to flow and move easily as this is what helps degrading viruses). You can use basic science to help cope with your anxiety over contamination.   Personally, I'm just following what the WHO are saying and I have been since they first announced the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 on January 9th (I actually wrote it down in my memory planner when they did #yayforbeingadocumenter). 

Finally, if you need extra reassurance: some antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral sprays may be effective to combat the coronavirus in your home if you feel the need to spray around your mail. The full list of products recommended in combatting the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 has been released and is available on the website of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Please be realistic with your purchases and don't buy up stocks, leaving many unable to buy any product at all because of the overbuyers. 

Just let your order sit in the box or bag for a week if you are worried. Things don't get shipped from China in an hour, so I am not concernef.

@julie5 I went to Toronto in December and a few people questioned why I would want to go to Canada during a cold month. Uhh... because my favorite band is breaking up and I want to attend their final show? It wasn't even that cold!

I am not worried about this at all. I just got a pre-order, everything came from China. I hugged it just the same as any other time I get new goodies. This whole thing is being blown way out of proportion by the media who seem to enjoy causing panic and fear. My mother is a nurse; a doctor she works with said that one of the viral strains that causes the common cold is a type of corona virus. It mutated and became stronger, and just needs to be viewed the same as flu and use the same precautions. Wash your hands, don't touch your face, cover your face with tissue/elbow when coughing or sneezing. I don't think this is going to end the world as we know it.

We just cam back from a cruise in December and as soon as we got home we booked another one for May (Caribbean). After the news got worse & worse I still wanted to wait and see. Then the ship we were booked to sail was the one that has had to return to FL TWICE in a row because of outbreaks of the regular flu. So because I have a number of underlying health issues (and a little older in age) we decided to rebook for our bucket list cruise to Alaska next May!!! So it all worked out. I just didn’t want to chance it with heart disease, diabetes, recent cancer, among other stuff!

This is why we have a Free Press. We need to be confused between facts and guesses. Then there are the word of mouth "translations" of what was read or seen on various media and passed around. Remember the Social Science class exercise? Whisper a fact to 1 person and whisper to the next, and around the room, in the end the fact has changed.
Just talking.

While I haven't worried about paper, I washed the metal dies I'd ordered that came from China recently with soap and water when they arrived as they fall into the slick surface category. That might have been overkill considering they were in transport for well over a week, but it couldn't hurt either.

Money changes hands constantly, and travels from place to place, so it has lots of opportunity to pick up communicable diseases. Perhaps this new virus will get people to be more careful about washing their hands properly. Germ-X and most santizing products are reportedly only effective against bacteria, not viruses.

There is one thing you can be sure of. Shipments from China are taking far longer than usual. My DS#3 works for a shipping company. His customers are upset about recent and current shipping times to and from China. Fewer planes, etc., are going in and out of China, which means less cargo can be shipped, and everything is taking forever to be transported.

Chances are pretty good that at some point during the time your item was packaged, finally shipped, and eventually received by you, it sat waiting for cargo space for at least a week or two.

Based on what happened to DS#4, who was waiting for the prototype of his game to arrive, it may have been sitting and waiting for a month.

My DS was surprised that his prototype was outsourced to China. It’s a card game, and all he ordered was one copy of the card deck. We’ll be play testing it, so he can decide if he needs to adjust the rules at all.  He is working on the kick starter campaign for it.

As for the Coronavirus, I am over 60 and have had asthma for several years, but I am also a germophobe who is always nagging everyone to wash hands, anyway. I think your precautions are just common sense. This has been a bad flu season, since a different strain of Influenza B has been making the rounds than what was in the vaccine.

The first case of Coronavirus in the DFW area was reported this morning. All the other cases in Texas were in Houston, and they were individuals who had gotten it on an Egyptian cruise. The case in the DFW area is reportedly related to travel, but it sounds like it was picked up from US travel, not foreign travel.

If I do have to shelter in place, my ridiculously large stash of papercraft supplies and tools will prove to be totally justified and necessary to my well being, anyway.

The more information we get and the questions we ask maybe we can combat this virus.
Unfortunately there is so much information out there that you don't know what is true..The media is just going nuts. 

Article in one of my local papers today.

It says the corona germs can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours so I'm guessing paper is similar. So there you go, just don't open your scrapbook orders and Amazon boxes for 24 hours and you're good.  Of course ripping into those boxes as soon as they show up is the best part