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Coronavirus – Americans fear Amazon packages delivered from China could be carrying killer bug

AMERICANS have told of fears they can catch coronavirus from Amazon packages containing items made in China.

Health chiefs reassured shoppers they are unlikely to catch the killer bug - but that has not stopped some fearing the worst after opening packages sent from Wuhan.

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Amazon shoppers fear they might catch coronavirus from items made in ChinaCredit: Getty Images - Getty

There are now 11 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US, including the first patient who caught it from another infected person in the States.

Worldwide there have been 362 deaths and more than 17,000 cases, most in in eastern China.

It has led to fears the virus could be transmitted in packages delivered by online retailers such as Amazon or private sellers on eBay.

Experts said the risk is low from imported goods because the virus cannot live more than a few hours outside a human host.

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: "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."

"What we know about these viruses is that they don't last very long on surfaces, and that's particularly the case for a very porous surface.

"There is no evidence from any previous outbreak that anyone has ever gotten infected from a package."

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