Do many people still wipe down their shopping pandemic-style

[Middleaugust]

Friend said she still does this. I was surprised. She wipes down every item in her supermarket shop when she gets home.

Do many people still do this? I never did it but I appreciate at the start of the pandemic, if people were in vulnerable groups, it was quite widespread to do so. Now though?

@Ontheclifftop and others saying similar - that was entirely the right thing to do at the time with the knowledge (or lack of) we all had available, for vulnerable people in particular.

Three years on, with the knowledge we have now and knowing nobody in her household is vulnerable, I don't know what to think.

Have you asked her why she does it? Does she still say Covid?

I wonder if it’s a general contamination/ germs fear now rather than a specific Covid one - so even though we now know Covid isn’t transmitted that way, it doesn’t help her feel like she can not wipe down because there are other things that might be transmitted that way

No, because it was a stupid placebo of a precaution.

Someone I know does still quarantine her post for 48 hours though which is beyond lunacy.

@cherryassam I think that might be what's going on.

I was both curious about this generally and concerned. I only found out when I was at her house visiting and the supermarket delivery came and then she was wiping it all down.

I do think Covid has brought out this kind of fear in a lot of people unfortunately

I’ve noticed it in my grandmother who was very robust and of the generation who believed that dirt made you stronger. She’s now much more wary of people who are showing signs of being unwell and really doesn’t like busy crowded places because she thinks they’re full of germs.

The messaging around Covid, and about illness prevention generally, reminds me of a clip of David Mitchell that I use as a mantra when my anxiety is feeling very overwhelming due to outside information.

Warnings (especially during Covid) are designed for the most reckless people - but for us who are inherently cautious, the strength of the warning can lead us to completely overreact to the actual risk level.

Neither did I 😉

I used to walk home from the 'daily essentials shop' eating a share bag of crisps I'd bought without bleaching them first

People looked at me like I was INSANE

Is that just to dodge the hills 😂

Bills not hills. Don't know how to edit

To be honest there are certain things i would do anyway, despite Covid ever coming along.
People seemed to remember they need to wash their hands and other things, in that time 🤦‍♀️ but forget basic hygiene in general anyway.

Bags from outside and shopping are dirty, you are then bringing that in to your home, putting foods away that have dirty packaging, so i like to wipe things yes.

I did before we knew how it spread. I don't now.

Never did this
Never will

I've never wiped down shopping or bags in my entire life! I'm 64, rarely ever ill, maybe one cold a year, and I still haven't had covid. My mother was very healthy, first time in hospital when she was 76, and she would have laughed at such a notion.

Handwashing is important, the rest is just silly - and btw foods where I live don't have "dirty packaging"

I can understand what you are saying. Many shelves in supermarkets are visibly dirty, especially the milk shelves. Lots of bacteria will be breeding there. Belts at tills are often dirty too.

Have you ever noticed people walking to the bus stop, putting their bag on the ground where there is chewing gum and spit? You just know they are going to get home and put their bag on the work surface in the kitchen.

Then there are the people who seem to buy lots of new bags for life every time they go to the supermarket. You just know they are not going to use them again. Convenient for them and cleaner maybe but not good for the environment.

The evidence is that COVID is less spread by touch than expected and more spread by air than expected. I stopped when I realised that noone else was washing shopping and were not catching COVID. A bit like cluedo where you follow where everyone else is going

Never did it, never will. As everyone says, it was always pointless. But it does worry me that some people apparently think it's a sensible thing to do!

Never did it. Nor did I bleach my keys, wipe my shoes or strip off the minute I came home and wash everything I'd been wearing. Nor did I wash and anti bac my hands to rawness and guess what, I never caught covid.