Penpal Letters: Makin' 'em Safe

[Paddler]

How can I safe my penpals' letters so they don't accidentally hand me the dreaded virus? The "official" line is that the virus can survive for perhaps three days on "surfaces". The "Perhaps" has me doubtful. I thought of wearing gloves to open the letters, discarding the envelopes (who knows where they have been?), and then ironing the letter sheets with the iron on the "linen" setting. Has anybody tried heat to see if any inks survive?

[Chrissy]

I'm currently washing my hands after I pick up the mail from the doormat, then after I have opened the letters and read them, I wash my hands again. I'm probably washing my hands about 40 times per day

[Paddler]

I know it is a frivolous topic, but that is my job.:facepalm:

[FredRydr]

Microwave

(Mind you, that's just a thought that popped into layman's head without the benefit of research!)

Edited to add: Remove any sealing wax, first. Gold coins, too!

Edited again: The US Postal Service, the US Secret Service and US Congressional mail office has been dealing with this issue since the anthrax nastiness, so the answer is already out there, though some bureaucrat may have classified it.

[Jaguarish]

How about popping them in a deep freeze for a few days?

[jrthemoon]

OMG FLU kills tens of thousands every year but you don't panic in case someone has had the FLU and written a letter !!!

[jrthemoon]

How about popping them in a deep freeze for a few days?

Thats handy as FREEZING is how scientists PRESERVE viruses, great advice not

[Chrissy]

How about popping them in a deep freeze for a few days?

Thats handy as FREEZING is how scientists PRESERVE viruses, great advice not


OMG FLU kills tens of thousands every year but you don't panic in case someone has had the FLU and written a letter !!!
Please play nicely. :(

[Chuck Naill]

Much false information regarding bacterial and viral transmission. Being around coughing and sneezing persons is obvious. Our own natural defense mechanisms are working to prevent inoculations.

[jrthemoon]

Sorry I MUST remember to add this to comments ;) :)

How do I add a signature here, being Autistic I like people to know in case I inadvertently cause offence thanks

[Fermata]

Sorry I MUST remember to add this to comments ;) :)

How do I add a signature here, being Autistic I like people to know in case I inadvertently cause offence thanks

Click on settings in the top right, you will then see My Settings down the left hand side. After that there is Edit My Signature.

You can then create your signature.

[jrthemoon]

You are a genius, many thanks, done, appreciated

[Paddler]

This reminds me of my grandmother who used to give her grandchildren money for their birthdays. She washed the bills in soap and water and then dried them with a hot iron. They turned out crisp like new.

[Chrissy]

This reminds me of my grandmother who used to give her grandchildren money for their birthdays. She washed the bills in soap and water and then dried them with a hot iron. They turned out crisp like new.

:pound:

[azkid]

Put the letter in quarantine somewhere for a couple weeks. I've seen estimates of the virus living on surfaces up to 9 days. And wash hands after handling.

[jrthemoon]

Not wishing to be funny but I wrote this a week back

And Covid 19 bothers you.................. really

Have YOU washed YOUR hands today ?

Here is a thought, we as humans are a dirty race, I am not alone knowing that people use toilets even in shops and do not wash their hands, we have all see men/women use the toilet then leave and YOU then have to use the same door handle AFTER they have touched their parts of the body in the toilet................................

Now, consider this the next time you think of illness, perhaps coronavirus, well.... I have thought about it for 20 years.

WHY do supermarkets sell unwrapped bread, cakes, buns, biscuits etc at FACE height and lower ?????

I have SEEN people pick a loaf up and put it back, did YOU later buy it, not me. I only buy wrapped.

Ok, when you next go shopping, locally, or anywhere and buy that loaf or cake, consider who was the last person over the WHOLE DAY to go to the toilet and leave without washing, cough, sneeze, breath over it before you buy it

It amazes me they wrap bananas, swede, potatoes and yet you buy coughed over bread

Why not tell the shops. I do. But then I never wanted my sons to eat anything that has been touched by the part of the body of another person or come from their mouth, sorry.

Oh and as an addition, has the person writing to you washed their hands :) :) :)

Have a nice tea

[Paddler]

This hand-washing remedy put forth by the authorities can be categorized as Lies to Children because they don't give you the whole story. You can wash your hands with soap and water until they are raw and still be able to culture bacteria from them. I am guessing that virus particles are similar in this regard. I think the important part is not to touch your face.

[Chrissy]

This hand-washing remedy put forth by the authorities can be categorized as Lies to Children because they don't give you the whole story. You can wash your hands with soap and water until they are raw and still be able to culture bacteria from them. I am guessing that virus particles are similar in this regard. I think the important part is not to touch your face.
To not touch your face without having washed your hands is the important part. :thumb:

[azkid]

Viruses don't culture. Soap and water are effective in removing viruses from your hands, provided you wash thoroughly and properly, and may also break down the lipid shell as well as dislodging the virus because of the way soap works at a molecular level.

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/11/21173187/coronavirus-covid-19-hand-washing-sanitizer-compared-soap-is-dope

It is also important to break yourself of the habit of touching your face, particularly the T Zone, eyes, nose, mouth, where viruses find entry points. It is a hard habit to break but it is doable.

As with anything, neither is a silver bullet. The idea is to take a number of precautions, each reducing the risk more than doing any one of them. So disinfecting surfaces comes into play as well.

Of course CoV-SARS-2 is transmitted primarily through droplets (from coughs, for example) and there are various things that can be done to help reduce that infection vector.

I've been following this epidemic since late January when news articles were first surfacing and have read a number of clinical case studies and other research papers.

[Jon Szanto]

I am guessing that virus particles are similar in this regard.

I know it is just a phrase, but there couldn't be a worse time to rely on guessing about things. Knowledge is not just power, but potentially life-saving.

[Paddler]

When facts are not available, you have to rely on a working hypothesis.

[FredRydr]

See: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/health/coronavirus-surfaces-aerosols.html

[Fermata]

In my business I had the mantra of eliminate or transfer risks that you cannot control. The risk cannot be transferred and I cannot control the risk of contaminated material coming through the mail other than to wash my hands after reading it and then destroying it. If the objects are metal or plastic, other than pens, I am washing in hot soapy water or if that is not practical I would spray with surgical spirit.

I dont do pen pal letters but if any were coming in from a high risk area, including London, then I would ask for handwritten letters to be scanned and emailed.

I was talking to a friend over coffee this morning, I hadnt seem them for two weeks, we were amazed at the changes in society over the past 2 weeks.

No sport, no motor racing, no concert, no events, queuing to buy food from empty shops, schools closing, cinemas and theatres closed, staff sent home from work - sometimes without pay - over 70s confirned to their homes, whole families kept at home when any member of the houshold has a cough without any certainty of whether they actually have the virus.

The world is in turmoil.