Ominva: Time-sensitive purchases shouldn't be made from China

Chairman of Tallinn-based Baltic postal and logistics company Omniva Andre Veskimeister says that because dispatching parcels from China is suffering a backlog due to the Coronavirus outbreak, it is not wise to make time-sensitive purchases from online shops there, as it is not certain whether packages will eventually make it to Estonia.
Veskimeister told ETV's "Ringvaade" that in January there had been a record number of parcels from China reaching people via Omniva, but these had been ordered before the Coronavirus was made public.
The arrival of the new packages has slowed down considerably since then. The reason is primarily the fact that due to the virus, staff in China responsible for sending the packages on their way are often absent from work, due to the virus. Companies are, however, looking for ways to transport the parcels.
"Most likely, parcels already on the road will arrive. What we are hearing from our partners and seeing in the media is that in China both the logistics companies and the tradespeople who are supposed to send out packages, people are effectively under house arrest, they can't leave their houses and can't physically do their jobs," Veskimeister explained.
He confirmed that the people are ordering less from China partly because of the fear of the virus and partly because it's not easy to send out packages from there.
Veskimeister said that the people that have the wish to order something specific from Chinese platforms should consider the fact that at the moment it is unpredictable when will they get their parcel.
Veskimeister confirmed that according to the current data, Coronavirus itself can't come to Estonia within any packages.
"According to our best knowledge, there is currently no confirmation that the virus can be transmitted with a parcel. Its known survival time, 72 hours, is very short compared to the time it takes for the parcel to arrive from China," he said.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino