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Mother’s Day 2020 is going to be a bit … different compared to years past. There will be no group brunches at restaurants or other big in-person family gatherings. Kids won’t be bringing home cute crafts they made with their art teachers at school. And the holiday may feel less festive for families dealing with loss, economic hardship and other trauma amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

So people are getting creative and figuring out new ways to celebrate Mother’s Day while social distancing. They’re also trying to keep some traditional aspects alive through Zoom brunches, at-home crafts and even flower deliveries.

Many retailers in the flower industry are still operating and they’re offering Mother’s Day arrangements for delivery. But is it wise to send flowers to the moms in your life this year? HuffPost asked experts for their thoughts on the safety of Mother’s Day flowers in 2020 and their guidance for those who decide to go for it.

“The question is safe for whom? You the buyer? Your mother? The merchant? The grower?” said Jim Thomas, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina and lead author of the American Public Health Association’s code of ethics.

“Ordering online seems so antiseptic,” he said. “All we touch is our keyboards. But there are lots of interactions in the supply chain to get those flowers to appear at a door ― all of them an opportunity for transmission between each other.”

Your level of comfort with a flower delivery may depend on how you’ve felt about other types of deliveries amid the pandemic.

“Sending your mom flowers has no more risk than if you send her gifts from an online retailer or have a nice meal from a restaurant delivered,” said Brian Labus , a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ School of Public Health. If you’re avoiding delivery food and nonessential packages , you’ll likely want to skip flower deliveries for the same reasons.

“The risk of contracting infection is low, but caution must be exercised,” said Jagdish Khubchandani , an associate chair and professor of health science at Ball State University.

One way to exercise caution is to opt for contactless delivery.

“The risk from any delivery comes from the contact with the person making the delivery,” Labus noted. “Touchless delivery, which minimizes contact with the person making the delivery, eliminates this risk, and this is very easy to do for floral deliveries.”

When placing your order, you can request that the delivery person leave the flowers on the porch or just outside the door or front gate, depending on the recipient’s living situation. If you and your mom live in the same area, you could also keep the handoff contactless by purchasing flowers at a grocery store or farmers market and dropping them off at her home yourself.

Many different types of florists are still offering deliveries during the pandemic. Labus said the risks are the same with local and national services, especially because many of the national services partner with local florists.

But if […]

Source: Is It Safe To Send Flowers For Mother’s Day Amid Coronavirus?