Is it safe to shop online during COVID-19?

Online shopping was a popular option for consumers before the COVID-19 global pandemic struck. Still, in the months that we have spent adapting to the new world way of doing things, it has become more essential than ever for many households.

While supermarkets have remained open during the periods of lockdown and restrictions, many retail outlets have been forced into mandatory periods of shut down, and when they were allowed to open their doors again, social distancing requirements meant capped customer limits and a reduced ability to trade at full capacity.

Global supply chain networks have also been heavily disrupted by COVID-19 which means getting and keeping stock on the shelves has also been a challenge for brick and mortar retailers. This has inspired many people to move to online shopping to purchase items they may need or want.

But is this practice safe? Is there a risk of contracting COVID-19 from a parcel delivered from the other side of the world? What if it has spent time in many warehouses, circulating through multiple people across several countries? We explore the impact of the coronavirus, the rise of online shopping and the safety of using our mouse and keyboard to order those items we need for our households.

How COVID-19 has impacted Australian behaviour

As of September 4, there had been over 26,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Australia. Almost 22,000 have recovered, there have been 678 deaths, and the rest are still battling the virus or are in recovery. The vast majority of the deaths were in Victoria (591) followed by New South Wales (52), Western Australia (9) and then Queensland (6)*. 

Every state and territory has experienced mandatory lockdown and shutdown measures at some stage this year while border restrictions still apply in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

It has had major impacts on people's work, with close to 1 million Australians estimated to have lost their employment. ABS figures show that 594,300 people lost their job in April and another 227,700 followed them in May. These instances came as major industries - including airline and travel, retail, finance, media, the arts, sport, mining, education and manufacturing - bore the brunt of mandatory shutdowns, social distancing requirements and travel restrictions.

For those that have kept their job, how we work has changed dramatically as well. While work from home (WFH) models have been gradually being introduced across multiple industries in Australia before the pandemic, this has also been accelerated. Now, it's estimated that 32 per cent of all working Australians - or 4.3 million people - have moved to WFH models in 2020, according to Roy Morgan research.

Communication, public administration, defence, finance and insurance are the leading industries that have been able to ride out the pandemic to some degree by continuing operations with workers continuing their duties from home. But this has been much harder for other industries like retail, agriculture, transport and storage where WFH models don't work.

So with limited shops open, mandatory shutdowns, travel restrictions, social distancing requirements, WFH adoption and restrictions that limit our ability to leave our own homes, Australians have turned towards online shopping to get not only the necessities they need but the luxury and recreational items that they crave.

The impact COVID-19 has had on online shopping

Australia Post had predicted that by 2025 online shopping would make up 16-18 per cent of all retail spending, but the advent of COVID-19 in 2020 has brought that figure forward with online spending making up 15 per cent of all retail spend so far this year.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales experienced dramatic spikes, up by more than 31 per cent compared to 2018 which was a combination of shoppers becoming more aware of the events and also moving towards online buying habits while in isolation and lockdown.

And April, a traditionally quiet month as shoppers recover from the previous Christmas spending and brace themselves for the next festive season, also saw an increase of 31 per cent compared to 2018 with 5.2 million Australian households shopping online during this usually reserved month.

So with more and more people turning to online shopping, is it safe?

Many of us will remember the classic episode of The Simpsons released back in 1993 that saw the people of Springfield purchase "Juice Looseners" through the mail. In that episode, a Japanese worker coughs into a box, and the virus travels to the United States, making everybody in Springfield ill. This episode has reached cult status with many saying it predicted COVID-19 and memes flooding social media feeds.

The exact shelf life of COVID-19 on different surfaces is unknown, but it behaves the same as all other coronaviruses which means it has the potential to live on our shipped goods for anything from a few hours through to a few days. But that is assuming the virus and goods are packed and shipped directly to the buyer.

The World Health Organisation explains that the delivery process is more complicated than that which makes the "likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods ... low".

"The risk of catching the virus that causes Covid-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low," the WHO said in a statement.

So was that episode of The Simpsons correct? Could the COVID-19 virus travel with our goods from overseas and infect us?

With that in mind, there are some precautions you can take. Firstly, try to only purchase from reputable and known suppliers. Amazon, for example, has a stringent cleaning regime in all of their operations which virtually eliminates the possibility of COVID-19 coming saddled with your goods.

Essential cleanliness and hygiene remain your friends, and you should ensure you thoroughly wash your hands before and after handling your shipped goods and avoid touching your face at all times. Wearing a mask while opening the goods will also dramatically eliminate the risk. And breaking out the good old Glen 20 Spray Disinfectant and giving your delivered goods a spray before handling will help reduce the risk to almost zero.

*Figures are accurate as of the date this piece was written.