[mytailorisrich]

Stuff you buy online has usually been packed months earlier.

The potential issue is thus only the outter packaging. If you take precautions, immediately discard the box and wash your hand you should be fine.

Packers and deliverymen should also wear gloves, etc. these days.

[moooo99]

The virus has a very limited lifespan on surfaces like cardboard [1][2]. On cardboard it is able to remain infectious for up to 24h. On plastics and stainless steel its much longer, but as you said, the product was packed months earlier.

You're probably taking the biggest risk when accepting the package in person. Here in Germany, you can allow delivery services to drop off the package on a specified location to avoid contact with the delivery man. No need to sign anything anymore. Pretty sure there are similar options around the world.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-lifespan-on-surf... [2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200320192755.h...

[pengaru]

> Packers and deliverymen should also wear gloves, etc. these days.

Those same delivery men the news has been reporting on working while sick [0]?

How confident are you they're not coughing and sneezing into those gloved hands?

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/business/coronavirus-ups-...

[pfranz]

I'm not trying to stir paranoia, but I wonder how diligent the average person is with gloves? We don't ooze the virus out of our fingers, its picked up or wiped from somewhere. Wearing old gloves is worse than freshly washed or sanitized hands, but I would hope the recency and severity of this make people more careful.

[dvdbloc]

The same glove they wipe their face with when they have an itch

[mytailorisrich]

Obviously we should not do that.

Ultimately you can find scenarios to show how any precaution is useless if you want to...