Are there any masks to buy? A lot of news articles are about governments seizing mask shipments. Furthermore, I think most masks are being allocated to hospitals.
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3 days on plastic...
I actually thought viruses lived forever, but I was wrong. The paper linked in this article says 1 day on cardboard, 3 days on plastic.
Other small warehouses I have personal knowledge of have been equipping their workers with masks and gloves daily in addition to hazard pay. It is just lack of attention to the issue that has caused the problem at Amazon. 99 out of 100 times I would support Amazon in any labor dispute. However, in this case, Amazon has not acted intelligently and the demands were very reasonable. The cost of equipping employees is much lower than the cost of more warehouse shutdowns due to illness and the comparison is so ridiculously in favor of "equip the employees" that even the hardest-hearted, self-interested Scrooge of a manager should be able to see the utility in equipping employees appropriately. As other even larger employers like Walmart have moved to make protective equipment available to all employees, Amazon is left looking stupid/evil/self-destructive in its approach here.
I think it's more complicated than that. There are viruses that are enveloped in a membrane, and ones that are not. Unenveloped viruses can survive much longer on surfaces. IIRC, Covid-19 is an enveloped virus.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4462923/:
> Non-enveloped viruses, such as coxsackieviruses, rotavirus, or poliovirus, can survive for extended periods on surfaces (9, 10), while enveloped viruses, including H1N1 and human coronaviruses, remain infectious on surfaces after several days (6).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1564025/:
> Most viruses from the respiratory tract, such as corona, coxsackie, influenza, SARS or rhino virus, can persist on surfaces for a few days. Viruses from the gastrointestinal tract, such as astrovirus, HAV, polio- or rota virus, persist for approximately 2 months. Blood-borne viruses, such as HBV or HIV, can persist for more than one week. Herpes viruses, such as CMV or HSV type 1 and 2, have been shown to persist from only a few hours up to 7 days.
If you have the money yes, apparently : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/02/global-battle-...
How would this even be tested or proven to any reasonable assurance? The PCR test is questionable enough as it is. "Hold on sir while we build this biolab on your front lawn and isolate all objects that could've come from outside of the house then test them"
> my grandma is immune compromised from chemotherap
Anyone in that group should be fully isolated and the advice for dropping goods etc, receiving packages is to leave them for 24 hours before handling if possible.
The hystrionics about shutting down important logistics to appease certain individuals media induced madness is a serious issue in itself
I would also imagine gloves are a better transmission medium for the virus as well...
I then go to my car and see used plastic gloves thrown all over the parking lot. It made me so mad. I just want to yell out "Be Better, People!".