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China orders overseas mail disinfection over Omicron fears

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Over the last two years I've lost track of the number of times I've been opening a package from a country that was - at that moment, being described as a Covid hotspot on the TV news. I get mail regularly from the US, Canada, continental Europe, India, Australasia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. I'm fine, and my postie does not wear a hazmat suit. Mail is not an issue.

Covid Zero is neither viable nor sustainable, and will erode the competency of the CCP in full view of their citizens.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Scientifically idiotic. The virus cannot survive on paper more than a few hours, as this is a porous surface that dries it out and inactivates it. This is just a pathetic and desperate attempt by the Chinese communist government to deflect the blame for their failure onto foreigners.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Forgot to say: Japan, take note!

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

More nionsense from CCP. Firstly they are at least partially responsible for this ridiculous approach to managing Covid. Secondly nice and xenophobic to blame foreign mail. Thirdly i thought the contact theory of spread was long ago proven to be noinsense.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Given that the parcels are loaded into the cargo holds of planes and flown at high attitudes will kill any virus.

Cargo areas of planes are pressurized and heated to prevent damaging cargo.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Typical CCP propaganda trying to hide the fact that their 0 case policy has failed!!!

No one can believe China has such low case numbers, they are hiding the data!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Ridiculous stupidity and propaganda tactic form China to maintain fear and even more control on its population. They have found now a perfect mean to do that even more easily.

Enough with this hysteria and ideology driven by an irrational instinct of fear rather than robust science. The likelihood of infection from fomites is estimated to be less than 1 in 10,000. That is extremely low and in fact essentially negligible.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Pure propaganda- COVID spreads through breathing in droplets.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

COVID CAME FROM CHINA. So check your own packages.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Don't forget to sterilize inside the box. Sealed air might have bugs in it too!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

So, they are sterilizing outbound packages too, right?

Of course not.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Good way for China to shift the blame to 'outsiders' instead of themselves. Even IF there were Covid particles on a parcel from overseas, they would be long dead by the time the parcel arrived in China. If anything, any Covid on the surface of mail would be caused internally, by handling within China.

But facts don't trump authoritarianism or xenophobia.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

I do wonder how much it is from the mail and how much it is from workers/sailors at these ports. Still, if those are high risk areas it makes sense to take every precaution possible as long as other measures aren't being disregarded too.

Unless/until the rest of the world gets their act together, countries with strict measures are going to have to keep maintaining them.

The best thing to do is still cancel the Olympics, but I think they got backed into a corner on that one. They can't realistically cancel them now even if they wanted to.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

More shipping slowdowns. Will these measures also be applied to outgoing parcels?

- “China's postal service has ordered workers to disinfect international deliveries and urged the public to reduce orders from overseas after authorities claimed mail could be the source of recent coronavirus outbreaks.” -

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I think China just can’t believe that perhaps, just maybe, their own population is responsible for spreading it around. They literally make you put bleach in the toilet after you use the bathroom because they think it’s spreading through the sewer. Believe me, I just had first hand experience with this.

At the same time, people are out in public with no masks, partying in clubs, drinking late in small bars.

And now they’re literally using flamethrowers to kill it?! These people have a very limited understanding of the virus, not surprising they started it.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Good!

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

"including a woman in Beijing whom authorities said had no contact with other infected people but tested positive for a variant similar to those found in North America."

Dont forget release point was Wuhan.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

China will create inflation and get more taxes

1 ( +3 / -2 )

better be safe than sorry.as this may reduce spreading of virus its good step forward.

No, this is idiotic over-kill.

I'm not sure what the data in China is, but in the US (with about 1/3 the population) the postal service processes over 100 billion pieces of mail annually.

It makes no sense to be requiring billions of letters and packages be disinfected all for the almost zero risk that this virus - which can only survive on surfaces for a few hours at most anyway - might attach itself to mail and survive a lengthy overseas trip in order to infect someone on the other side.

China's whole policy to containing this at all costs is clearly counterproductive and going to cost them in the long run. We're going to have to learn to live with this virus at some point, trying to stamp it out completely isn't a realistic option but because China has a stupid autocratic government that is the only thing it knows how to do right now, and its imposing real costs on that society.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Funny how China had no objection to spreading it worldwide in 2020 after they knew of its existance well before the end of 2019. Always the victim.

12 ( +16 / -4 )

Meaningless unless they also stop homeland delivery from Omicron-case confirmed areas to Beijing. Don't try to hide your failing zero-corona policy by blaming foreign countries.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

better be safe than sorry.as this may reduce spreading of virus its good step forward.

-8 ( +7 / -15 )

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