The best ways to reduce your risk of getting COVID-19 are by now well known: wear masks, maintain social distance, and avoid crowded areas – especially those indoors. But as public health experts have learned more about how the coronavirus spreads, it's become clear that some precautions probably aren't worth your time.

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Letting letters and packages sit for days before opening them, for example, is most likely overkill, according to Rachel Graham, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina.

"I've never bothered about quarantining mail," she told Business Insider.