China Claims First Omicron Case Arrived Through Foreign Mail

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Insider that says officials in Beijing are telling people to avoid international mail and to open their packages outdoors and with gloves because of the Omicron coronaviruses variant. There is no risk of getting the coronaviruses from mail. The Omicron variant is more infectious, but there is no indication that this has changed. Beijing was telling residents not to order goods from abroad and to open packages with gloves and a mask on, according to the China correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation. The South China Morning Post reported on Monday that Beijing's center for disease control and prevention said that people should only order from high-risk countries, and that they should wear gloves and masks when opening mail from high-risk countries. The center said the first case of the Omicron variant could have entered via mail. The man who was sent the mail from Canada was found to be HIV positive. They claim to have found the Omicron variant on the letter.

Canada's post office says that the risk of the coronaviruses spreading via mail is low because it doesn't live long on surfaces.