I work from home. My kids are schooling from home for the next 3 weeks. But my husband… he goes out to treat sick people. What does this mean for our home-based business?
Self Quarantine During Community Spread
We have confirmed cases of Coronavirus here in Ohio. Universities have moved online, K-12 schools are closed, restaurants are only allowed to serve take-out, and even the Ohio Conference of Catholic Bishops have halted public Masses until Easter.
Like you, I have been closely monitoring the situation and looking for both scientific and spiritual guidance to weather this storm. Our family has decided to self-quarantine except for my husband who only leaves for his work as a Family Physician.
Dear friends and colleagues, right now our family–and all health care workers–need your prayers. They are on the front line and taking great risk. Thank you for your patience as we each prayerfully discern our response to ongoing events.
Mustard Seed Training is a home-based business, and there is no ban on shipping, but I have personally decided to wait to ship packages until other community restrictions have lifted. My apologies for this inconvenience.
Mustard Seed Training will continue to take and make orders. Either Meagen or Michele (our new Shipping Manager!) will be in touch with individual customers when shipping resumes. Since many schools and churches are closed right now, we will need your response to confirm or change shipping addresses when the time comes. Our refund policy remains in place to serve you: full refunds available any time before shipment, and up to 14 days after delivery.
Is Shipping Safe? Yes, with Caution
Local representatives from the U.S. Postal Service and U.P.S. confirmed to me that they have no plans to close. They can even pick up from our house. Their services are crucial in this time, particularly to replenish medical and food supplies.
In January, the CDC confirmed that imported shipments had “very low risk” of spreading disease due to length of time in travel and quarantines in ports.
But domestic shipments have no wait period. Just this weekend, a new study has confirmed that the current strain of coronavirus can live for 24 hours on cardboard, and up to 72 hours on other surfaces.
What does this mean? Shipping is low risk compared to community gatherings. However, if you live with vulnerable or immuno-compromised individuals, there are additional precautions you can take when receiving shipments:
- Use gloves or cloth sleeves to move your packages & mail to a warm, dry place
- Let packages sit for 24-72 hours before opening AND
- At a minimum, ALWAYS wash your hands thoroughly after opening mail
All vendors on our team are also taking thorough sanitizing precautions when making your materials. However, I have made the decision to delay shipping and be overly cautious for the additional safety of our customers.
Our team will spend this time building up inventory for an active summer season. We are honored to serve you, dearly beloved of God, today and every day. Remeber that every epidemic has a curve, and if we follow the advice of health professionals, we will save many lives. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
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