Newspaper deliveries

[mikefox]

Many of the elderly people who live in my village are having newspapers delivered by the village shop. They think that it's safe because the delivery man wears gloves. How daft are people? The delivery man comes into contact with many people every day so he will certainly get covid soon. He will be contagious for days before he has symptoms, in fact he might not get symptoms. What's to say that if he does feel unwell he will self isolate anyway? He will be a super spreader. I wonder how many people he will kill? Newspapers are nice to have but they are not essential. Government needs to provide more education on tv. Maybe put out short films like we had in the 70s. Put them on every channel at the same time.

[HappykindaGal]

How will he come into contact with the people he’s delivering to? Won’t he put them through the letterbox? 😊

[mikefox in reply to HappykindaGal]

If he is carrying the virus then he transfers it to anything he touches or coughs or even breathes on. The virus can survive on paper for approx 24 hours.

[HappykindaGal in reply to mikefox]

I've heard an hour possibly. The risk is minute I would have thought

[sylvi]

I have been having my newspapers delivered for years and i can't see how that people can get the virus from the papers. I have never caught anything from having my paper delivered.xxxx

[mikefox in reply to sylvi]

The virus can survive on paper for approx 24 hours

[sylvi in reply to mikefox]

Well then i am well and truly infected then.xxxx

[HappykindaGal in reply to sylvi]

Hahahaha - that made me giggle

[Jewels94]

I think you need to remember that for many older people the newspaper is essential. Many of them will have no internet access and rely on having their newspaper delivered. If it’s not delivered they will insist on going out and getting it.

[Nessa28]

The virus can’t live on paper for long at all . Let them read the paper . We as a nation are on visual overload . The news true and fake are blasting us , mine and others anxiety limits have been pushed to overload . I had a OCD anxiety attack triggered by this my house was so clean and sterile . My hands were a mess and I was a blubbering mess . Thankfully I managed to get a hold of it and put it back in the drawer . I have removed so many of this triggers I only watch 6 o’clock news social network 2x a day and a set time . It’s worrying for all but some normality is welcome be it a paper or your shopping delivery a wave from the postman . We all need a hug now not more visual in your face 24 hours updates . This is out of our control , so we must do what we can to prevent overthinking everything or whatever joy the world presents we will miss it . Hugs all round 🤗🤗🤗🤗🌷

[mikefox in reply to Nessa28]

The virus can survive on paper for approx 24 hours

[HappykindaGal in reply to mikefox]

Where does it say this please?

[mikefox in reply to HappykindaGal]

I can't remember. I've heard it from more than one source. I was a science teacher before retiring because of my illness. I know a fair bit about viruses having studied them during my degree. I also know which sources of information to trust and which ones to ignore. The real time that viruses can survive on surfaces depends on a number of things such as temperature, exposure to sunlight and the type of surface. The important point is is that viruses DO SURVIVE on surfaces. Therefore touching almost anything can carry some risk. We need to only touch what we really have to. And even then take precautions if possible, for example wiping shopping trolley handles with an antiseptic wipe. I'm also shopping for my vulnerable mother -in-law and I wipe all of her shopping before dropping it off. And before I do that I wash my hands. Post could carry the virus. Therefore wipe it if you can with an antiseptic wipe.

[HappykindaGal in reply to mikefox]

It's interesting isn't it. Articles I've read vary greatly. SARS apparently is anything from 2 hours to several days, as is Coronavirus, but not specifically this mutation. I guess for the time being it is just pure guess work in the end.

[QAGS in reply to Nessa28]

so agree with you Nessa 28

[Leonwp]

Couldn't agree more.

That is a huge risk to get yesterday's news.

[Plumcrumble]

I did see something on the TV a few days ago, they said if you have a paper delivered put in somewhere, wash your hands and read it the next day, so you will obviously be reading the paper a day late everyday, I put any post I get in quarantine aswell 😁

[Hidden in reply to Plumcrumble]

Surely the only possible danger from virus on a newspaper would be from getting it on your hands and then touching food or your face and so on. Isn't the answer to wash your hands after reading the paper?

One other thought, if you watch old films where a baby is being born at home, the midwife always seems to want gallons of boiling water and mountains of newspaper. We used to be told it was safe to use it to staunch blood from a cut if there was nothing else clean to hand.

[Plumcrumble in reply to Hidden]

Yep, wash hands after aswell, just to be safe, never heard of the newspaper and blood thing though 🤔 😁

[nomoreheels]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods was low, therefore the risk of contracting Covid-19 through receipt of a newspaper was infinitely small. “Newspapers are pretty sterile because of the way they are printed and the process they’ve been through (to be produced).” Virologist George Lomonossoff. One reason why fish & chips were always wrapped in newspaper.

Please, can we be careful in what we post. Whilst it's understandable we'll question anything just now it's best to be sure of what we believe to be true before posting about it. Always check reliable sources first otherwise it could cause unnecessary anxiety & debate.

[mikefox in reply to nomoreheels]

I agree, under most circumstances newspapers are probably safe. However, things have suddenly changed in that we now have a virus that is more contagious and more deadly to certain groups than the usual viruses that we are faced with. Vulnerable groups are to a large degree protected every year by the flu vaccine. But there is no such protection from the covid virus. I've already seen enough respected experts on tv that have said what I've just written. A newspaper might be sterile when it's printed but it won't remain so if a contagious person then touches it.

[nomoreheels in reply to mikefox]

The comment & advice from WHO directly relates to Covid-19 (or SARS-CoV-2) so invalidates yours unfortunately. Whilst it's true that we're protected by the most virulent forms of flu each year it doesn’t necessarily protect entirely, though if we are unfortunate enough to contract one of them it will be mild by comparison. I don't have the evidence but possibly the same will apply when a vaccine to protect against Covid-19 (or whatever it will be called in the future) is developed. No, we don't have protection against the virus, aside from what we're able to do ourselves, washing hands, distancing/isolating etc but these are very early days so it's unrealistic to expect have medical protection.

[mikefox in reply to nomoreheels]

If someone tomorrow delivered a newspaper to your house and you saw them coughing and spluttering would you touch the paper? Probably not I guess. But what if he'd also delivered one today before he was symptomatic but contagious? To not worry about that would be contradictory.

[nomoreheels in reply to mikefox]

My obvious answer is I don't have a paper delivered, under normal circumstances we would buy one on the Saturday only but that's being peevish! I'm afraid my serious answer/question is what do you do about buying any long shelf life food goods? The same applies to such food, be they tins/cans or packets. Honestly, you'd be hard pushed to avoid anything, not just foodstuffs, not touched by human hand & you can't possibly know if anyone who had was in that 1 to 14 day incubation period.

[mikefox in reply to nomoreheels]

It was a hypothetical question! Everything I buy I wipe with antiseptic before it goes into the house. I use hand sanitizer after leaving a shop. I wash my hands when I get home. I know you can't avoid all risk. The point is to reduce it as much as possible and not take unnecessary risks such as having papers delivered. I studied viruses as part of an epidemiology course in my biology degree. I think I know what I'm talking about.

[mikefox in reply to nomoreheels]

We used to wrap fish and chips in newspaper when we put lead in petrol, asbestos all over the place and people thought smoking was good for you. We stopped wrapping food in USED newspaper because we realised it was not sanitary.

[Paula-C]

The only way it can get into my home is if someone brings it in, or is brought in on something. I have been opening my mail with gloves on a putting the envelope in the bin. All shopping that I can clean with a watered down solution of spray I've made is a spray bottle is and then rinsed of about ten minutes later and dried. I do it with my husband, things we can't clean, I open them, husband takes them out of packaging. Things we can't do this to is put on one sided and not touched for a few days.

For those reading this and thinking I'm bonkers, yesterday on our local radio a virologist was asked about this and he said yes, it was a good idea. People in supermarkets tend to pick things up, read the label and put it back on the shelf., they could contaminate it.

[dawkin_S in reply to Paula-C]

This is exactly what we do too - I don't think you're bonkers at all. Hard surfaced objects (packets, cartons, bottles, jars) get sprayed, left to dry then washed. Paper (newspaper, letters) gets sprayed if possible and left to dry or left in the porch for a couple of days. Loose veg and fruit (we get a veg box) gets washed - don't ask how long it takes to wash a whole veg box individually, let's just say there was a lot of Happy Birthday action going on!

Maybe I'm being over-the-top, but it doesn't feel that way. I'm naturally cautious anyhow, and even if this is unnecessary, it makes me *feel* better, which is half the battle, I think.

[Paula-C in reply to dawkin_S]

Yes your right, it does make you feel better about things if you know you've done everything you can think of to stop yourself from getting it. x

[mikefox in reply to Paula-C]

Not bonkers at all. A doctor on tv last week put it well. He said that we should look at everyone we go near and everything that we touch as potentially being infectious with covid.

[Sali61]

I was concerned by a newspaper and a person coming to our house, so I signed up for digital on the tablet I bought my husband. I know not everyone has this option, but the point is - as with the cleansing of the shopping - we must all take steps to secure our own physical and mental health - every little helps xx