Coronavirus and Promotional Products: What You Should Know

By Dean Schwartz (SWAG Master): Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’re undoubtedly aware that fears are rising over packages, products, and people coming from China due to the coronavirus. Here at SOBO, our primary concern is always the safety of our clients, partners, and employees. Of course, we work closely with many factories in China, so we are monitoring the situation closely.

The big question everyone involved in promotional products are asking: can you get the coronavirus from packages or products? And the answer is that it’s highly unlikely.

But we’re not doctors, we’re SWAG specialists; so don’t take our word for it – check out what the experts are saying about the virus below.

Coronavirus and Promo Products: What You Should Know

World Health Organization – WHO says on its website “it is safe” to receive packages from China. People who do so “are not at risk of contracting the new coronavirus. From previous analysis, we know coronaviruses do not survive long on objects, such as letters or packages.”

Center for Disease Control – CDC states that “In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures. Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently, there is no evidence to support the transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods.”

Food and Drug Administration – While the likelihood of transmission is very low, the FDA is still keeping a close watch. The FDA site reminds the reader, “We can refuse admission of products that fail sample testing or may violate other applicable legal requirements. Fortunately, currently, we are not seeing the impacts of this outbreak resulting in an increased public health risk for American consumers from imported products. There is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods”

To reiterate, our primary concern is always the health and safety of our people. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep you up-to-date should anything dramatically change within our industry, but until then, those future events will still need SWAG! We recommend that you plan as far in advance as possible to ensure that your order arrives safely and on time.

If you have any questions or concerns about your orders, email us at info@soboconcepts.com or call 888.752.0432 to talk with one of our SWAG specialists. And remember to always #SWAGwithStyle!