Coronavirus concerns mega-thread

Viruses, unlike bacteria and parasites, can't survive for long without a live host. Some viruses can only survive for hours, but it looks like coronavirus can survive for several days. Most international shipments from China take longer to travel than the virus can survive so you probably don't need to worry about too much.

If you really want to play it safe, you can store all packages somewhere like a basement or garage, in a container perhaps, and let the virus die. Or wear disposable gloves when opening and wipe down your package, packing supplies, dolls, etc. with a wipe to kill anything remaining on the surface (Clorox/Lysol wipes). Be sure to rinse your things off after wiping.

 

I wouldn't let it bother me since it has already spread to the USA and will likely reach most other countries soon. Its not a good illness but the symptoms could be much more damaging as well.

 

I just wanna say that I love that you referenced The Simpsons.

But I agree, I'm not really worried about a virus surviving the shipping process. I work retail, and the sick people who come in the mall sniffling, coughing and sneezing...or bring in sick kids who touch everything...is much more concerning than anything shipped to me. The stuff I see daily...there's just not enough hand sanitizer in the world.

 

No, it didn't occur to me to worry about packages from China. I'm in Hong Kong though and the amount of people who will go to mainland China for Chinese New Year and mix with any of the millions of people who are travelling across the country ... well, we'll see.

 

Hi

I realise this isn't the best place to post this, but its a bit of a 'nobody knows' thing isn't it. The news is talking of China, Japan and Korea struggling with Coronavirus. Firstly thoughts n prayers for anyone affected, I hope you can all stay as safe and well as possible. But I wondered how long virus's can survive on surfaces, so if we have dolls that are just arriving, do the pose any risk?

Coronavirus | About | Transmission | CDC This site is about Transmition of the coronavirus

FIle me under paranoid. I just wan'ted to ask but wasn't sure where to ask this question

Thanks x

 

Funnily enough, someone else just brought this up. I agree with the replies that these kind of viruses don't survive outside a host for long and normally have to stay moist while outside a host so are not likely to survive during a lengthily shipping period.

 

I can't answer how long the virus lingers but usually a few weeks in the mail kills most things. The postal trucks and planes are nothing like the human body they're designed to inhabit.

That being said you can wear a mask and gloves to unbox. Maybe open the box in an area that isn't frequently used and immediately throw away packaging you don't want. You can keep your new doll in and packaging you do want in a quarantine for a week or so if you're really nervous. It's always good to wash your hands frequently when any sickness if lurking.
But if you live in an area that's experiencing winter or your package traveled through a place experiencing winter AND it's been traveling several weeks I wouldn't worry.

 

This coronavirus is actually very similar to sars (which was also A coronavirus). Coronaviruses are usually transmitted from animals to humans. Most humans will get a cold, but rarely you can develop a viral pneumonia which can potentially kill if you can’t properly fight it, but most people won’t get more than a cold. Coronaviruses are not very good at surviving outside of a host. They need moisture and cells to survive. Under optimal conditions (fridge temperatures in a wet medium) it could survive 28 days, under hot and dry circumstances it survices only a few hours. So if you are afraid of contacting something from a package from China just leave it in front of a heating source for a day or so. All visus will be dead by then if it even surviced the shipping (in winter and in wet cardboard).

 

Japan is struggling with Coronavirus? Why haven't I heard anything about this?

 

There is one case spotted in Japan as far as I know, but that was a traveller from China to Japan. Same for Korea, also just one case. Two for Thailand. And one in the US. I know places like CNN just talk about "cases" but only one for both Japan and Korea is confirmed by WHO.

source: https://www.who.int/csr/don/en/

@ OP: I wouldn't really worry too much about it now. It won't survive for long outside the human body so it is not transmittable through dolls. Unless the sender drooled all over the doll and that somehow survived during shipping but that's extremely unlikely. The fear is mostly that with the Chinese New Year people travel all over the place and spread the disease but they're taking measurements against the spreading.

 

I'm sure if it was a risk there would be some sort of precaution put in place for all products imported from those countries?
Like others said the virus shouldn't survive the journey, so I wouldn't worry too much about it spreading through packages.

 

Ehrm, viruses are actually better at surviving cold temp than hot, so traveling through winter is actually not helping.

But really, even if someone with Corona sneezed on you there is still a large chance you DON’T get it so really do not stress about getting it from a package. Unless you are completely immune defiecient and living in a bubble. In which case you should get your packages radiated before opening

 

My bad, I'm not a doctor. but it's still a small chance it'd survive in the cold through the postal services judging from everyone else's comments.

 

True. Warm or cold. But if you are somewhere hot right now you REALLY have nothing to worry about

Really do not worry about catching a virus from a package, unless the person packing it left a whole pool of snot in it so the virus has a wet medium and it being fridge temperatures (which is the optimal temp for corona to survive in a wet medium) it has only been proven to survive 20-28 days under optimal circumstances
Leave it in a 30 degrees celcius environment and its dead in 3 hours. So if you are worried, just keave the package to dry in front of a heat source (next to a radiator) and leave it there for a day) after that there is no chnce in hell there is a virus alive in there, even if the mailman sneezed corona all over it. In that case you might have already caught it from talking to him on the door. Getting viruses from innate objects is really really unlikely (its not a hollywood epidemic movie, if it was humans would have died out long time ago). So really don’t cancel orders because of that

 

In addition to all these very reasonable points... Your dolls aren't in stock. We all know by now that it takes at least two months from the fastest companies, and longer from most. By the time your order is made, boxed up, waited in a shipping warehouse, flown over in the chilly cargo hold, and passed through multiple customs and logistics points (and hands), your risk is effectively zero. There's no stories I can find of anyone ever getting sick from their mail unless it was an intentionally mailed disease.

Besides, you would have had to be some kind of psychic to actually order something that could potentially, maybe be contaminated, because you'd have to have already placed the order months ago.

It's far more likely you'd be infected via a traveler who came in contact with the virus and provided it with an ideal host than via a piece of cold, hard resin that won't be delivered for several months. There's no reason to worry about it in this context.

 

Coronaviruses are already in other countries like mine, the United States of America, though.

Most of the time you might not even know it, they just cause pneumonia or the cold. Or you may or may not be a carrier - but once you've had it you have biomarkers for it, like the patients I've treated. As someone else already mentioned, most viruses die easily on other surfaces - some of the craziest like hep. C last for a few weeks in just the right conditions, but that's kind of the exception.

What seems scary about this new one is that it seems to have mutated to be transmissible through human/human contact, but honestly that makes me wonder if other cases of coronavirus around here lately arent/weren't just subclinical enough or not enough of an endemic to fly under the radar and not warrant investigation or study. If that makes sense ? We still take full contact precautions with coronavirus patients anyway.

Also may I remind you that you should be more afraid of the flu. You're probably more likely to get that, and that can be even more deadly. So if you get a fever and you can't leave your couch, at least drink fluids, some anti-fever meds, and some sugar somehow (I really don't care what junk you eat). And if you can't eat or drink, and/or you can't treat your temperature, go to the hospital.

 

As someone who has suffered from health anxiety/germaphobia for years and knows quite a lot about bacteria and viruses, there is almost certainly nothing to worry about!

So far it does seem like this may be a particularly contagious virus, but it's definitely a stretch to worry about being infected via a contaminated object shipped internationally. As many people have said, viruses usually don't stay infectious for very long outside the body, although there are exceptions to that. Giving the heads a really thorough wash when they arrive would easily take care of the problem anyway, in the very unlikely event that any virus 'survived'.

 

Is a bit freaky. Ive been seeing alot of posts telling people to avoid it, as well as avoid looking up the virus in general if you're prone to stress and worrying HEH. I have so many posts coming from asia/china that i guess im in too deep really.

 

Going along with the common thread. By the time your dolls have been shipped, gone through customs and reached you, any virus clinging to them will be dead. 48 hours alone at room temperature should generally be plenty of time to wipe the little suckers out. I understand your fear, but it is groundless. Get your discontinued heads so that you don't regret the loss - they're not going to kill you.

 

If the disease commonly spread easily through mail, every single person working in American manufacturing facilities and mailrooms would have it - the latter from the packages and the former from what’s in them, since American manufacturing uses mostly Chinese materials. You should be much more worried about getting the flu from the person who delivers the package.

 

I'm not worried about it to be honest. Viruses can't live long outside of the human body and it takes typically over a month for my Chinese orders to reach me. Any virus would be long dead by then. If I were really being paranoid I'd leave the package in the back of my closet for a little while longer before opening it. Or wear some gloves and give my item a good washing. But that's a little much in my opinion.

**Edit a couple weeks later**

On second thought I'm holding off on ordering anything from China. Not because I'm worried I'll catch something but because everything is experiencing delays thanks to quarantines and evacuations. I'd rather wait than have to deal with a delay after placing an order. I feel bad for the sellers taking a hit right now because everyone is afraid but even the postal system is being affected from what I've heard.

 

It’s past the time ACBJD said they’d ship my order and they still haven’t done so. I have sent them three emails regarding this order already and I don’t wanna bother them further. But now a question came to my mind. What if the waiting time is being extended due to Coronavirus? I don’t know if Alices Collections is based in China, but many of the companies they offer are. Is this a real worry I should have or not?
Thank you.

 

I was thinking the same! I sent bjd head to China nearly 22 days ago by 1st class and looks like China still didnt renew the tracking code. They had New Year thought that extends the wait times too, but I guess Coronavirus is the case as well =((

 

Yes. I’m waiting for my Taobao agent to ship out an order and I was told by them yesterday that the postal service is down due to the virus. At least the order is still at their office and not in transit somewhere.

 

Yeah the holiday plus the virus has definitely slowed my doll to a halt for a few weeks. But it finally started moving again yesterday so I’m hopeful the clothes I ordered from acbjd will be coming along soon too.

 

I have a doll that I purchased (in stock) but could not be shipped out because of the Lunar New Year and now, coronavirus (understandable).

I do have a doll that will ship on Monday as confirmed by their courier company. We will see if this happens.

I was told by my preferred agent that some companies like Doll Chateau won't be back to work until mid-February.

 

I read that the outbreak caused the Chinese government to extend the official CNY holiday to keep people off the streets, so yes, it’s probably causing delays. Gentle reminder though that maybe we worry about the actual people affected by the virus before we worry about wait times extending.

 

A lot of the world supply chains are disrupted. Hopefully the way that ACBJD ships is unaffected by the cancelled passenger flights (As airlines cut China flights, there's less room for cargo - Marketplace)

 

I'm on the same boat with you, waiting for my order from ACBJD.

Well, it can't help if it's delay due to Coronavirus. I believe that ACBJD based in China //Sigh

Just hope that they will be back soon.

 

I sent an email to ACBJD earlier today and they just responded. They said that yes, their store is indeed being affected by the epidemic and that they’ll start shipping orders again around mid February. But they also were really sweet and offered me in stock items instead of my pre order ones, and said that I didn’t need to pay the price difference ($3). I hope they have a good recovery and come back soon ^^.

 

I can't imagine it's great for the dollmakers in China either, and will probably be hella sick if worse comes to worse. It's an unpleasant surprise for other countries and shipping, but here's hoping the artists abroad get through this outbreak unscathed.

That said, if anyone's hesitating because of this, keep in mind you might be supporting someone in their time of need. So if you love that sculpt from China, go for it.

 

on my taobao agent they have a FAQ for the virus actually. If you need to know how china is doing shipping wise and productions. the big agents are great to follow. I been following Superbuy for news since if they start moving. The rest of the country will soon be moving as well. What they say is mostly related to them but again it gives a good idea.

Top 10 questions about the novel coronavirus - 自由讨论 - Superbuy社区 - Superbuy bbs this is the link to their FAQ about it. It helps understand the situation for mailing and everything honestly.

I agree with buying dolls/stuff in general right now. The loss time from the holidays and the extension to the holiday means loss of time, money, a lot of things. So support your doll artists and clothing makers in china at least. They need it more then ever to battle this epidemic.

Plus wait times in this hobby is long yes. Its frustrating to know it might delay the doll even more. We signed up for these waits by being in this hobby. People health should come first so they can give us the quality dolls we want to get instead of getting less then good dolls. So forgive them a bit as we know how sickness can delay and even make you make mistakes if rushed. Plus you get extra time to keep planning your doll for it's arrival.

 

One of the independent doll artists said in as many words that it's the reason the preorder that should have been arriving by now hasn't yet. I had actually kind of figured as much. I'm not concerned about the extra wait, but I do hope everyone is all right or will be all right.

 

I ordered from Loongsoul on December.... I'm a little worried that the nCoV outbreak may affect the production time.... and I'm also planning to place another order to Charmdoll this Feb 21st.. would that be a good idea? to order during the outbreak? I'll be ordering via ACBJD.com

Also, clothes i ordered back in Dec 25th for my dolls haven't arrived yet too... this is so sad what's going on...

I hope the virus will be conquered soon! Praying for everybody's safety

 

I ordered something on etsy a while back and the shipment is delayed because the people in the shipping plants are out of work for a while. Maybe that could be your situation too?

About the doll, I wouldn’t worry though! Like others have said, it should be fine. By the time you receive it, everything should be solved by then. I hope.

 

My order from Alice arrived last week, so maybe things are moving a little bit?

 

They emailed me saying that all of my items have already arrived at ACBJD, but on my order status it still says “processing”. Is this normal?

 

Sounds like they just received your items and are still processing it? So they probably haven’t changed your order status because they haven’t actually shipped the items to you yet.

They will send you a tracking number when your items are actually shipped and your order status should change then.

 

I hear there is a small chance of getting the virus if you order things from China. Even though it is a small change I don't want to take any chances. I did buy some stuff from China a month ago before I knew about the virus and I'm still waiting for the last thing to arrive. When I get them I spray them with lysol and wash with soap and water really good. I won't be buying anymore things from China for a while. It may sound silly, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

No, I still don't think that it has a big impact at Japan now, so I still preparing to welcome another child from Volks.
But if things are effected by the disease at Japan in futute, I might think about this again, such as temporary stop to order...

 

What's silly is believing some rumor or fake news source. The chance is effectively zero, there is no reputable source warning that you can get sick from a package. You're still at an infinitely higher risk of both getting sick and of dying doing your grocery shopping.

 

If you're worried about it, you could isolate your parcel when you get it for 48hrs and wipe everything down when you do open it. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face or food after handling the package initially. These are basic precautions. But really, it should be perfectly safe by the time it reaches you.

 

I hope this is the right place to put this, but the Corona Virus has lead to the stopping of mail to and from China to the USA and perhaps other countries, where a lot of us have regularly shopped for doll supplies and so forth. How is this affecting the doll community? O_o Wigs, shoes, outfits, dolls, so many things we depend upon!

 

Where are you finding this? The usps notice I'm finding says it's stopping mail destined FOR China

 

Actually USPS is only suspending delivery time guarantees for priority express mail to China due to a number of flights to China being suspended and thus a drop in air shipping capacity. They're still accepting mail to China. It's on the banner at usps.com.

Also USPS has a service alert about changes in China that could create additional delays.

International Service Alerts - Newsroom - About.usps.com (Click China)

 

Here's a pretty solid AP article about it. For now, anyway, mail from China to most countries will continue.

 

I got my package today after about three or four weeks. Now my parents are worried. :/ WHO says packages should be fine tho.

 

The virus won't survive long outside of a live host, so any doll things should be pretty safe, I'd imagine.
The mail delays have more to do with people being restricted from travel, than packages themselves being dangerous.

 

If it's any comfort at all, I got a package from China a couple of weeks ago, and no one has gotten sick from it.

I'm currently only waiting on a package from Hong Kong, who has also had several confirmed cases of the virus, it was shipped yesterday and tracking shows it was accepted and is in transit. I did order a doll from China, but I don't expect him to even be ready to ship until April at the earliest and I hope all of this is over by then.

As frustrating as it is to wait even longer on our dolls and their things than it already takes, I'd rather wait a little longer than force people to work when they're sick and spread it to others.

 

I ordered a dress a few weeks back from Taobao and the official courier just accepted my parcel today. I think it should be ok to ship to me. But I am waiting for the other sellers to ship. ^^;

I think there is no worry about transmitting the virus through the parcels. If you are very worried it is fine to disinfect the box, I guess.

 

It's a stressful time to order and ship from China, that's for sure. But yeah as others have said, there is still mail going to and from, there's just complications. Virus wise, packages should be fine.

Rather unfortunate (for me) that it happened around when I ordered my first dolls, but it can't be helped.

 

There’s already a thread on this topic.

I’m going to say the same thing I said there, which is that maybe we worry about the actual people affected by the virus before we worry about wait times extending. Besides, if ever there was a community that was primed to handle a wait, it’s us, right?

 

Two things can be true at once.

I think it is a valid concern to be worried about the wait times extending or the parcels being delayed and at the same time, we think about the well-being of our friends in China and be understanding of the current situation.

I think the thread is simply meant to discuss what is happening and not really to complain about wait times extending.

 

I'm not sure of mail delivery situation in Mainland China, but being in Hong Kong, I can tell you that our postal service has reduced its office hours, and is handling all its delivery and collection on alternate days. This is to protect our postal workers by reducing the risk of them getting the virus (not from the mail itself but from the people they might come into contact with) or potentially spreading it if they become infected. (Almost all other government departments here are currently providing limited service as well, and lots of companies are having their employees work from home. Schools have also been suspended till mid-March.) Our postal service is separate from the Mainland so I can't tell you what the situation is there. Here is the latest press release about the postal situation in HK.

Overseas mail to and from HK is also delayed in general due to flight suspensions/cancellations.

In addition, the Hong Kong Post is giving priority to the delivery of surgical masks which will probably cause delays in the delivery and handling of other mail.

 

The news was rather sketchy as usual but yeah, it's awful to worry about all the people a lot of us have communicated with for years.

 

I'm not worried at all about the virus clinging to a package. It wouldn't survive long enough.

However, I do worry about all of our favorite doll makers in China, as well as the shipping getting slowed down/stopped. I have one order that I'm waiting for right now. I sent them a message wishing them well, and let them know that I understood it might take a little longer than usual due to whole cities being quarantined and airlines stopping their flights and that I'm fine with the extra wait.

 

I work in a Chinese company. I have a coworker on home quarantine right now. One of my close coworkers is from Wuhan, Hubei (she also collects bjd, strangely enough). I personally wouldn't hesitate to order from China but I do worry about people who can't return to work due to businesses being closed down. I know a lot of companies and factories are going to come back to massive backorders!

 

ACBJD told me today that my items have already shipped out, but still in China. Though my order status still says “processing”.