Major shipping companies taking all precautions to avoid spreading coronavirus through mail service

With the news that one of the quarantined coronavirus patients in Washington is a postal sorter, concerns over home shipments have risen, but officials say the risk is still low.

It got us asking what the country’s biggest shipping companies are doing to protect you and their huge network of workers.

Every time you grab the mail or a package off your front porch, you probably don’t think about any unwanted germs that come with it. The good news— mail carriers around the country are.

UPS, USPS and FedEx all say they are closely watching the latest from the health department and Center for Disease Control.

UPS workers in mainland China and Northern Italy have been given facemasks to wear.

Their traveling crew members are told to avoid as much contact with the general public, including ground personnel and if any employees come down with a fever or respiratory issues, they are required to immediately see a doctor.

As they work around restrictions in some areas, they remind you to be patient. There might be a delay if you are sending or receiving anything from China.

With that being said, it looks like your items themselves are safe—USPS told us in a statement.

“There is likely a very low risk that the virus can be spread from products or packaging shipped from China.”

There have been no reported cases on this happening in the United States.

The reason being, according to the CDC, it would be very difficult for the virus to survive a surface such as a box or an envelope very long.