To say some people are being ridiculously hysterical?

[YoyoYOO]

It's a serious situation, of course it is and I understand the need to slow the spread. And I understand why those at particularly high risk would be extra careful.

But honestly, some of the threads on here at the moment. It is just a constant, endless circle of people slagging off their friends or family for some perceived flouting of THE RULES, panicking and losing sleep because you're not sure if you disinfected your Amazon parcel well enough, quarantining a carton of milk for 72hrs, being called a serial killer because you sat down on some grass for 10 minutes after going for a run, stopping to talk to a family member out the window after your supermarket trip is akin to the worst crime known to man.

I've never ever read or witnessed such mass hysteria before. AIBU to think that some people are going absolutely crazy?

If people want to ask a question re packaging they should. I do wash my hands after unwrapping it as DHL person just handed it over. People can do their own thing though.

Anyway the whole people were more rational back then thing is completely nuts. People did crazy things to try and avoid the Black Death.

Londoners aren’t allowed to use benches, they’re taped off.

I know, but people have been complaining loudly about it on here " what harm does it do, sitting on a bench", " why can't an elderly person sit on a bench for a rest, that's not fair"...

The issue is that there is some evidence that it could survive on a bench and so, until there is conclusive proof, why shouldn't we all err on the side of caution?

I can't in all honesty get worked up about what other people do with their shopping, and whether or not they wash, scrub or set light to it and their post in order to try to keep themselves feeling safe.

I don't wash my shopping and I don't hide my post for several day before opening it in hazmat suit, but each to their own.

If it makes people feel safer and makes them feel they are taking control over something that has killed thousands of people and over which they have no control, then why should it bother anyone else.

If it bothers you to read threads about people washing their shopping, don't read them.

Hear, it’s pretty harsh on those less able to go for a walk without a sit down. Elderly people in my block are basically trapped.

Hey I don't care if people wash their shopping either. What I care about is them encouraging the hysteria / anxiety in other people rather than us calmly discussing what the advice/guidelines actually are.

It can last on hard surfaces up to 72 hours but it GREATLY REDUCES during that time and so the likelihood of you catching it from food packaging is VERY UNLIKELY as per the experts advice that I've posted 3 times now.

That's the whole point of thoroughly washing your hands after touching things and the advice to stop touching your face. But sure, go ahead and wash down your shopping.

You should probably continue to do it anyway if you're that way inclined because as sure as eggs are eggs there will be a flu epidemic, the norovirus hasn't gone away and then there's the winter vomiting bug. The latter, i read somewhere, were much less prevelant last winter because people are finally washing their hands properly.

@LilacTree1 i know I'll probably get it. Thanks awfully for the reminder. To maximise my chances of survival i would like to postpone getting it until there is greater understanding of best management/treatment. Kind of weird to go about reminding people who have a reasonable chance if death from an illness that they are likely to get it. We know! But as long as you win the internet or whatever....

But you can't catch it from sitting on a bench. You can catch it from touching the bench and then touching your face before you wash your hands, so that's what needs to be avoided, not the sitting.

It can last on hard surfaces up to 72 hours but it GREATLY REDUCES during that time and so the likelihood of you catching it from food packaging is VERY UNLIKELY as per the experts advice that I've posted 3 times now. Which I think is worth more than someone saying otherwise on MN.

But who knows how long ago the virus landed on the object? So yes, it might degrade overtime but do you know for sure that a shopper with C19 didn't cough over that tin of beans ten minutes before you picked it up?

How can you be so sure that your groceries haven't been contaminated in the few minutes before you picked them up?

Benches are taped to keep people moving aren't they. so they don't stop and congregate.

which of course is harsh on those who need to rest as they walk. but this whole thing is harsh.

Hear, you're doing exactly what I'm saying is the problem. If you want to wash your shopping then fine. But stop scaremongering with your BUT WHAT IFS.

Experts have said there is nothing to suggest it is transmitted via food packaging. I've posted various statements about this. That is the advice, that is what we are being told. Just wash your hands after your shop but stop pretending as though you know better and encouraging the hype in others.

@LittleMcJiggle I would be explaining my reasoning if people weren't making bizarre (hysterical?) slurs against people doing something that in no way affects them. Everyone has to make their own decisions about which measures are proportionate, and which aren't. I'm just pointing out that for those of us who are at a realistic risk some strange seeming behaviours have a reasoning behind them.

Hear, it’s pretty harsh on those less able to go for a walk without a sit down. Elderly people in my block are basically trapped.

Yes it is,but then if it's a potential risk then maybe that's a reasonable decision.

I'm shielded. That's pretty harsh too and I'm trapped in my house but me feeling unhappy about that doesn't make the risk to me any less real does it?

YANBU

But YABU to say this on MN which is generally a hysterical and self righteous place

That's why you wash your hands frequently. Hearhoovesthinkzebras. Put shopping away, wash hands. Prepare food, wash hands. Then, even if the packaging does have some (unlikely) contamination, you won't catch it.

@AdoptAdaptImprove - annual flu deaths in the UK fluctuate.

On average 17,000 people die per year in England from seasonal flu. 2014-15 was a particularly bad year when 28,330 died in England. These figures come from Public Health England so would need to be added to the deaths in the other countries of the UK.

I understand that. I have absolutely no problem with individuals washing their shopping. But what I don't like is them acting as though it's recommended, advised, based on any sort of evidence or fact when it isn't and hyping others up with comments like Hears.

Do what you want to do but I think it's wrong to use something that's not based on fact to play into other people's anxieties, for example the thread I mentioned in my previous post.

This is how it gets out of control.

And equally there's nothing wrong with (and I think it's important to) coming here and saying actually, this is what's actually been said in regards to food packaging. If it stops someone worrying unnecessarily then that's good isn't it?

But you can't catch it from sitting on a bench. You can catch it from touching the bench and then touching your face before you wash your hands, so that's what needs to be avoided, not the sitting.

Well, yes but over the weekend someone posted that they had sat on a bench and eaten sausage rolls. So, that is a potential risk but there was uproar when some people dared to point it out.

Of course, if someone is excessively anxious. It's about striking a balance.

Yanbu.
However it is not surprising considering the low level to which public discourse had already dropped - the tone of the brexit debate being the most obvious example.
The Internet was meant, partly, to democratise learning, but has also democratised opinions, and unfortunately opinions are very rarely based on evidence but instead on feelings.
So we've moved seamlessly from ' 'liberal elite remoaners' versus 'racist ill-educated breziteers' ' to '' everyone's going to fucking die because stupid people have to do fucking exercise'', or similar.
It is also shining a light on critical societal issues: wealth inequality, ageing population, poor health generally and obesity in particular, and just how unnecesarily rude and aggressive we have become as a society, with that leaking from social media into real life.

Only if they touched the bench It's like every other area of our lives. We understand the risks as best we can and apply them to our lives, within the law, as we see fit.

If people want to wash their shopping then whatever but don't pretend it's the recommended thing to do or that it's proven to make any difference at all because it isn't

Has anybody said it’s the recommended thing to do? If someone feels more reassured by washing their shopping what’s the harm? I haven’t heard or read anyone telling you that you must wash your shopping. The choice is yours....

I agree op although I wouldn't specifically use the word hysterical.

I get that this is frightening and serious and awful. It is all the people posting about how life is never going to go back to normal, how there will never be any jobs for anyone ever again, etc etc who are making this a place I suddenly don't want to be. I haven't posted about the details on here but this virus is having an extremely serious, life-changing impact on someone very important to me. It's is extremely traumatic watching that happen. I still don't understand the state people are getting themselves into. It is important to stick to the facts right now. They're bad enough. Lots and lots of people are going to come out of this pandemic and be ok. People will fall in love and have babies and get divorced and start businesses and many will even forget the events of 2020 because life carries on. I hope we come out of all of this with a lot of compassion for those who lost people and for those who were traumatised by the events (key workers etc) and I hope we come away with closer community ties and with thought for people who are isolated because of chronic illness etc. But largely as a society we will be ok. And there are already many positives to this now for many reasons. Nothing is ever just good or bad.

It is an very scary situation though! I don't understand the people who blithely say they are trying to slow the spread so it doesnt overwhelm the nhs - they must see the nhs is totallly overwhelmed? Operating theatres turned into warda just for covid, conference centres filled with beds because we can't fit them in the hospitals. Operations being cancelled and the nhs is not able to offer normal levels of service?! People are catching it going in for routine operations. 50% of staff ill with it in one hospital. To let everyone get it at a level the nhs can keep functioning would take YEARS. Why are people not MORE worried and angry at the governments failures?!

Sad speaking to family in hong kong who are still going out to eat and on holidays - wish we had handled it better here so we could have more freedom here