Easter Bunny is cleared to make drop-offs amid pandemic

I will be hopping right along this year despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to my following letter, the World Health Organization (WHO) has cleared me to make drop-offs on Easter Sunday.

So while the rest of you still need to stay home and practice social distancing, I will be allowed to do my much awaited essential job.

This year instead of hopping down the bunny trail as usual, I will be shuttled around by my self driving Carrotastic-Car down several less frequented trails, so as not to come into contact with any nearby bunnies. I have been very diligent about taking every necessary precaution in the making and delivery of all of my Easter goodies.

I’m sure that most of you are not aware that I did test positive for COVID-19. I was not feeling well about a month ago. I had fevers, chills, sore throat and that darn ever lasting dry cough. Although I was sick, luckily it only lasted a few days. In knowing that 5-6 days after the infection, mild respiratory symptoms and fever can range anywhere from 1-14 days, the WHO ( World Health Organization), did come and do a well check on me to make sure that I would be healthy and ready for all Easter deliveries by Easter morning. Although I was feeling much better by that time, I still had the COVID-19.

As we all know, most of my eggs that I fill up with goodies for all of you are made out of my very special plastic right here at the Easter Bunny Headquarters. The hairs on my head started to stand straight up as I was getting ready to start the egg making process. I had to make sure that I was following all of the health standard guidelines as to ensure the safety of others.

I start out by washing my fuzzy little paws with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds prior to putting on my face mask and latex gloves. I have to wear my face mask just in case droplets come out of my nose or mouth from coughing or sneezing while in the process of making all of my eggs. In one single sneeze, I could produce up to 3,000 droplets into the air. Droplets can linger in the air for up to 3 hours but the heavier droplets immediately fall onto the floor or any surrounding surfaces. As we all know, you can be infected by breathing in the virus or by touching a contaminated surface then immediately touching your eyes, nose or mouth with those contaminated hands. As of now, the virus has not been found to be passed onto food items.

I will only touch my eggs and Easter goodies while wearing clean latex gloves. Once I touch anything other than what I am working on, like a door knob, my bunny phone, food, light switches, countertops, etc, I immediately take off my gloves and throw them away. I will put on new, clean gloves each time I have to take a pair off. In knowing that from time to time I still hide real eggs as well as plastic eggs, I had to do even more research on COVID-19 to make sure that my egg shells are virus free prior to delivery. As of now, there is no evidence stating that COVID-19 has been found on any real egg shells.

For my own safety concerns and peace of bunny mind, I choose to sanitize each real egg as well by mixing bleach and water in a spray bottle and spraying each egg then I place each egg on a rack to dry.

Since the virus has been shown to last on plastic surfaces for 3+ days,

I make sure to wipe off all of my plastic eggs with soap and warm water then by using an antimicrobial agent such as bleach and water, I disinfect each and every one of them prior to filling them with goodies. I am very careful with how much bleach I use, I do not want my beautiful colored eggs fading. Of course, from time to time this happens, hence why some of my plastic eggs turn to a pastel color. The reason I use bleach as my disinfectant is due to its active ingredient sodium hypochlorite which is effective in killing bacteria, fungi and viruses, including influenza virus ie: the flu. COVID-19 and influenza are similar in a lot of ways.

Of course, plastic is one of my favorite materials to use for Easter for so many reasons.Some of those reasons are: the eggs are easy to make, easy to fill, easy to put together, easy to transport, easy to reuse or recycle and don’t break as easily as my real eggs do.

As you can see by the graph that I made below, COVID-19 likes plastic just as much as I do. As luck would have it, it chooses to linger on plastic much longer than other surfaces tested in the recent “New England Journal of Medicine”article. If I would’ve known this data prior to making my plastic eggs, I would have chosen to make my eggs out of Copper instead and boy would they have been beautiful.

Google Spreadsheet with Data and Plot (anyone can view and comment) – Data is taken from the supplemental information of the following scientific publication: Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1.

I am very excited about all of my upcoming deliveries that I have been working so hard on. Although I do all that I can to ensure the safety and cleanliness of my Easter surprises, I would highly recommend that after finding your Easter eggs, playing with your Easter toys or whatever your Easter morning routine is to Please wash your hands with soap and warm water prior to eating your yummy breakfast or Easter treats. I want to make sure that you wash off any germs that may be on your hands prior to putting your hands in or near your mouth and or face. Also, if you are choosing to re hide my eggs for others or keep them around for awhile, please disinfect my plastic eggs the same way that I did before delivering them to you.

I know that COVID-19 has affected everyone in one way or another. Easter is here, let’s take this day to have fun, smile, sing, dance and be with our family. Stay happy and healthy and please be kind to one another.

Until next year,

Easter Bunny

Fun Fact: ( For those who didn’t know) -Bunnies Do Not lay eggs. Rabbits develop embryos inside a uterus and, after a pregnancy lasting about 30-35 days, give birth to a litter of often 12 or more bunnies.