[M T]

A couple of days ago, there was an in-depth discussion on a mineral collecting forum whether it was safe to import rocks from China, even though they'd be on a plane for at least a week. Irrational, probably. Sincere, absolutely. Political, not at all.

Asking such a question doesn't seem irrational.

In case no one found any data, see this article Persistence of coronavirus on inanimate surfaces.
I don't claim to understand the details.  
I believe SARS-CoV would be the closest virus and so might be used as a guideline.  The longest persistence listed for it is 6-9 days on plastic at room temperature.  Higher temperature generally means shorter persistence.  Lower temperature gives longer persistence (the only two entries at 4 degrees C, for any virus, give persistence greater than 28 days).

I've heard of slow boats to China, but a 1 week trip on a plane, from China??

Oh, in case anyone asks, since packages are almost always shipped with paper or cardboard wrapping, the table in that article shows persistence on paper for a SARS-CoV strain as 4-5 days at room temperature.   (Consider that probably several people handle the mail before it winds up at your house.   You may want to wash your hands after opening your mail or reading your morning paper.)

[M T]

A couple of days ago, there was an in-depth discussion on a mineral collecting forum whether it was safe to import rocks from China, even though they'd be on a plane for at least a week. Irrational, probably. Sincere, absolutely. Political, not at all.

Asking such a question doesn't seem irrational.

In case no one found any data, see this article Persistence of coronavirus on inanimate surfaces.
I don't claim to understand the details.  
I believe SARS-CoV would be the closest virus and so might be used as a guideline.  The longest persistence listed for it is 6-9 days on plastic at room temperature.  Higher temperature generally means shorter persistence.  Lower temperature gives longer persistence (the only two entries at 4 degrees C, for any virus, give persistence greater than 28 days).

I've heard of slow boats to China, but a 1 week trip on a plane, from China??

Oh, in case anyone asks, since packages are almost always shipped with paper or cardboard wrapping, the table in that article shows persistence on paper for a SARS-CoV strain as 4-5 days at room temperature.   (Consider that probably several people handle the mail before it winds up at your house.   You may want to wash your hands after opening your mail or reading your morning paper.)