4 pieces of online-purchased clothes in someone's closet tested positive! Remember to do this when receiving express delivery!

The situation of overseas shopping products has been a bit “unsettled” recently.

In recent days, confirmed cases in Dalian, Beijing and Jiangsu were related to foreign clothing. In addition, there have been multiple reports in China of imported and overseas shopping products testing positive for COVID-19 nucleic acid. Netizens joked: "I don't know whether the recent overseas shopping is a surprise or a shock?" So, can we still shop overseas happily? If you receive overseas shopping products recently, what should you pay attention to?

Confirmed cases in three places are related to Korean clothing

On April 6, the Beijing COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control press conference reported that as of now, the cluster outbreak at the Xiaojingege clothing store has infected 16 people, including 8 store employees, 6 family members and cohabitants, and 2 other related personnel. According to media reports, the Xiaojingege clothing store where the confirmed case was found is located in Wangjing SOHO, Chaoyang District, Beijing. Online reviews show that this store mainly sells Korean clothing, which can be purchased through express delivery in addition to physical sales.

On April 2, the Dalian COVID-19 Prevention and Control Headquarters in Liaoning Province issued a notice that the gene sequence of a newly confirmed positive case in the city was the Omicron variant (BA.2 evolutionary branch). The positive case was a clerk in a Korean imported clothing store. The Korean imported clothing and the inner surface of the packaging bags he sold were tested positive for the single gene of the coronavirus nucleic acid. The notice pointed out that the possibility of infection due to contact with imported items contaminated by the coronavirus cannot be ruled out.

On April 2, the Changshu COVID-19 Prevention and Control Command Center in Jiangsu reported the situation of a confirmed case, Yang, who was reported on March 28. After repeated epidemiological investigation and testing, four Korean hoodies purchased online in his wardrobe tested positive, while the results of multiple nucleic acid tests of other environments, close contacts, secondary close contacts and general contacts were all negative. Combined with the domestic cases of Korean imported clothing, after comprehensive analysis, this case is related to online purchases of Korean clothing.

How long can the Omicron variant survive in a non-cold chain environment?

Many academic studies at home and abroad have shown that Omicron can "carry and spread the virus" on the surfaces of various objects for a longer time.

A laboratory study by researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan found that compared with other early COVID-19 variants, the Omicron variant can survive longer on plastic surfaces or human skin. According to the results of the biological research preprint website bioRxiv, the researchers tested the average survival time of the new coronavirus strains on plastic surfaces at room temperature, which were 56 hours for the original strain, 114 hours for the Delta strain, and 193.5 hours for the Omicron strain, indicating that the Omicron variant can survive on plastic surfaces for as long as 8 days. In addition, the survival time on the surface of the human skin model is also the longest for the Omicron variant.

The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong recently released research results stating that the Omicron variant can carry the virus and spread it for 7 days on smooth surfaces such as glass, plastic, and stainless steel.

The results showed that on smooth surfaces, the Omicron variant still had a certain ability to spread within 7 days, while the original strain of the new coronavirus was significantly weakened on the second day and lost its ability to spread on the fourth day. On porous and uneven surfaces, the Omicron variant can spread the virus for 30 minutes, while the original strain loses its ability to spread after 5 to 15 minutes.

"Overall, the Omicron variant is more stable than the original strain on different materials and surfaces, but whether it is more transmissible still requires more verification," the research team said.

The Omicron variant is so cunning.

How great is the risk of citizens being infected when receiving express deliveries?

Experts from the CDC remind that during the epidemic prevention and control period, people should not purchase goods from abroad unless it is necessary, especially those from areas of the country where the epidemic is more serious. You should be extra cautious when purchasing goods from abroad.

Huang Linjie, deputy director of the Infection Control Office and deputy director of the Respiratory Department of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, believes that the conclusion that the Omicron variant can retain the virus longer is a conclusion drawn under laboratory conditions, but the research results under laboratory conditions are not equivalent to the real living environment. The temperature, ultraviolet rays, etc. in the real world will affect the survival of the virus. Citizens do not need to be overly nervous, but they need to pay attention to effective disinfection of express surfaces and hands.

I would like to remind everyone again: when receiving or opening express deliveries, please remember to take personal protection measures and do not be careless!

Comprehensive sources: Science and Technology Daily, Science Popularization China WeChat public account, Shanghai Fire Department, etc.