FYI for Ebay sellers....

Way too many people crammed in a high-density fashion. I will NEVER live in the city again

 

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I'm 66 as well and I am concerned as I'm looking forward to getting older as well! If I get a package in the mail, I put on some latex gloves and I take it in the garage and I go through my cleaning process! Some things are a pain in the @ss but it's worth the effort to me!

 

And that's all I'm advocating...... the next 10 days are critical....... watch...

 

I hit my last couple packages with lysol and let them sit in the garage for a while. Hot water and soap are a great way to deal with this.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html
Be cautious and protective but don't feed into the frenzy of craziness.

 

I'm skeptical about these LED devices.

UV-C is the kind of UV that's most effective for disinfecting. UV-C LEDs are still very new, not very powerful, and VERY expensive. If you're seeing an LED wand for under $100, and probably under $1000, it's not UV-C.

There are cheaper wands that use mercury-vapor lights to produce UV-C. Those will work, but have a limited lifespan -- the bulbs don't last nearly as long if they're turned on and off frequently. The bulbs are supposed to have lifetimes in the thousands of hours, but if you turn them on for a minute or so at a time, many times per day, they'll lose significant power after tens of hours.

UV-A and UV-B LEDs have gotten cheaper and more powerful, and these longer wavelengths can sterilize things, but MUCH, MUCH more slowly than UV-C. (Several hours instead of tens of seconds, I'd guess.)

It'd be easy enough to test, though -- get some mold started on bread, break it in half, zap one half with the wand, see what happens...

 

If you know what you ordered why open it. Clean it, leave it for a safer time, and wash your hands! If it is normal or regular mail such as bills. Clean it, open it, pay it. Sponge it or seal it with tape, Immediately walk it to the mailbox, raise the flag, wash your hands! So on and so on... Safety first. As Spock would often say "live long and prosper." The Q-Crew

 

The trouble is that one news outlet was calling it a hoax up to less than 2 weeks ago, many millions believed and did not take any precautions. We now have a full-blown pandemic with many more lives at risk. According to what I've learned from the CDC is that mailed coins should be safe, but it doesn't hurt to wipe down the package containing the coins.

 

Great advice!

 

The real problem is people that keep popping in with politically motivated misinformation

 

I happen to live in one of those hot spots. My spouse and I believe we got a touch of the virus, but we did not get it from any of the delivery professionals. Both in our mid-70s, we think I brought it home from my 19-day hospital stay after which I had the most severe flu-like malady I've experienced for more than 25 years, then I passed it on to my wife. Perhaps my nurses and therapists carried it in during their frequent visits.

In direct answer to your question, though, stupidity is what they have in common. We are having our groceries and prescriptions delivered, and we keep the service people outside. Each delivery is then handled with a light anti-bacterial rub.

 

I hope that you did, not because I'd wish this on anyone, but in hopes that you're now immune. Hospitals will be even more awful places than usual over the next month or two.

 

None at all. You see I have one of those "essential" jobs that I must go to everyday to keep the stay-at-home people supplied. I also have a daughter who works in a grocery store and another that is a nurse, all living at home with me. So the reality for me is there's many opportunities for infection. You just take prudent precautions and not overreact.

 

As for me my friend....I'm in food stores all over the US! New England to Texas ...etc etc... so yeah I do get it ......every day ! And I've have had a front row seat watching this wave hit the retail food industry. And you ain't seen nothing yet!
Think I'm b's ing.....watch the next 6 weeks! When the doctors and nurses start dying we are SOL!

 

Unfortunately some don't understand that. Rioting will end up happening somewhere on the globe and people have already committed suicide and metal health will greatly suffer more than it needs to from some that just want to fan the flames making people scared of their own shadow instead of preaching real precautions and having rational conversations about the issue.

 

We have cancelled all of our appointments for the time being. I saw on the news this AM that Louisiana will be among the first states to "peak" on 4/10/20, so, life here may return to normal...whatever that may be for a septuagenarian with a severe heart condition.

 

Kitties don't use TP either.

 

I was one of the people who suggested that eBay offer free listings to help people deal with all the time those of us who are stuck at home have. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Panic causes people to do more stupid things than taking the time to understand the threat and deal with it constructively. I'm a retired environmental health professional with education, training and work experience in both the medical field as a professional microbiologist and an essential government employee in protecting public health. I get my facts from reliable sources. We don't open mail for three days, just take it out of the mailbox, place it in a bag, wash our hands and and wait three days to read it. Do the same with non perishable grocery items. This is the new normal until vaccines are widely dispensed. Follow the recommendations of the health professionals to avoid other contact exposures. Mail handling is simple, just time - no chemicals needed.

 

That's funny...