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After officials suggested mail could be the source of recent coronavirus outbreaks, China’s postal service has ordered workers to sanitise international parcels and asked the general public to reduce orders from abroad.
China, where the virus first appeared in late 2019, has maintained a strict policy of zero Covid cases even as the rest of the world reopened.
However, the country is currently dealing with a number of tiny outbreaks, including one in Beijing, which is hosting the Winter Olympics.
In recent days, Chinese officials have claimed that some people may have been infected by foreign parcels, citing the case of a woman in Beijing who tested positive for a variation identical to those discovered in North America despite having no contact with other affected persons.
China Post issued a statement on Monday directing employees to sterilise the outside wrapping of all international mail “as quickly as feasible” and forcing personnel who handle foreign letters and packages to undergo booster immunisation shots.
The postal service also requested that people limit purchases and delivery from “countries and regions with a high international epidemic risk,” and that domestic mail be handled in separate places to avoid cross-contamination.
Infected persons spread the coronavirus by inhaling microscopic liquid droplets.
The risk of infection through contaminated surfaces, known as fomite transmission, is low, according to the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control.
Within three days, virus traces on most surfaces have been reduced by 99 percent, according to the CDC.
China, on the other hand, is wary of taking any chances, especially with the Winter Olympics coming up next month.
The country uses strict local lockdowns, mass testing, and people tracing health applications to remove diseases as soon as they are found.
In recent weeks, outbreaks of both the Delta and Omicron coronavirus subtypes have erupted, stranding millions of people in their homes across the country.
Infections have recently been discovered in locations that receive a significant number of international commodities, including as Tianjin, China’s eastern port city, and Guangdong, China’s southern manufacturing province.
On Tuesday, China announced 127 new cases of locally transmitted Covid.
