To think passing stones around is silly

[deydododatdodontdeydo]

A woman in our village has started a painted stone scheme to lift spirits.
It's all over the local facebook group, people are painting stones, leaving them for others to pick up, hide somewhere else, and move them on.
Everyone thinks it's great.
A woman even tried to give me a stone, she held her hand out for me to take it.
AIBU to think this is just silly?
I'm not exactly one of those disinfecting or quarantining my mail, but this seems reckless to me.
I know if I speak up on the fb groups I'll be dismissed as a killjoy.

You buy them UpontheBlueGuitar. About £10 per bag. Inspired business idea 😁

It's fun for kids.

I remember spotting one of these paintings ages ago (not sure if it was the same guy but it was a teensy painting of a discarded piece of (bleugh) chewing gum). It was NOT picked up!

londonist.com/london/great-outdoors/chewing-gum-art-millennium-bridge-ben-wilson

Not so good during tbe pandemic, though.

And yes - it was fun to spot it just walking along a busy London street

Garden centres sell suitable stones.

(I was walking, the gum wasn't stuck t anyone's shoe - yet)

I don't think there's much risk of transmission from momentarily touching something someone else has touched, especially when (presumably,as they were out of the house) they had no symptoms.

Then you should read up about Coronavirus as you are mistaken.
Yes, there is a clear risk of transmission touching something someone else has touched and picking up the virus. That is an established method or transmission.

And, importantly, having no symptoms is IRRELEVANT! You can pass on the virus WITHOUT SYMPTOMS! You can have the disease WITHOUT SYMPTOMS! The reason we are all self-isolating is that we don’t know who has the disease. We have to act AS IF WE HAVE THE DISEASE in order to slow the spread.

Don’t think about if you or your children could be picking up the disease. Think about if they could be passing it on.

We do this with our dc, not handing them to other people but if they find one they will re-hide it. I imagine that the chances of someone with the virus sneezing/coughing on a stone they've painted or picked up, the virus surviving outside in the wind etc then someone else picking it up and getting the virus of it are absolutely tiny. We don't let them eat the stones and wash their hands well when we get home.
Spending hours in, say, a car with someone with a temperature, coughing would be really, really stupid and reckless. Picking up a stone that could have been outside for days on end, walking a few hundred metres with it, putting it down and then washing your hands is really, really low on the risk scale.

I love painting and hiding stones. Daughter loves finding them, but not so much the painting of them. Not doing them currently due to the current situation, but did find one the other day which made me smile so I took a pic and left it where it was. Also, found one at my front door this week!

Is it "established" DollyDoneMore?

As it said, it's possible (don't you just love it when someone quotes part of your reasoning) but it's not likely. In places where they do contact tracing they are not finding that it is being passed from fleeting contact with surfaces. WHO is still saying 15 mins direct contact.

I am even taking care to avert my eyes from anywhere anyone else has looked.

Silly to pass them around.

But our local area has been painting and leaving stones around recently and (despite being normally cynical about these things) I think it's brilliant.
So nice for the kids, adds a bit more interest to walks around the area (given this is the only place the children can go to now!) And its good for community spirit.
However, in our area there is NO rehiding or handling of the stones once they've been left. The kids all understand now that it is "look but don't touch" and enjoy leaving their own.

Our local nature reserve has them all along the verge of the path. This stretches between two towns, there is a line from each end maybe they might meet in the middle......

Giving people stones is bizarre

There's lots round here
My two know not to touch them but others move them.

The post wasn't about whether painting and leaving stones is a good thing or not, but whether it's a good thing right now.

I think the chances of catching it from a stone are slim, but about the same as catching it from mail or a tin of soup off the supermarker shelves.
But people are going crazy at others for not decontaminating their mail and supermarket shops.

Makeitgoaway. The WHO say “studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).”

People on this thread are saying their children are picking up stones, walking with them and putting them down elsewhere. It’s not necessarily fleeting contact. It’s impossible to police face-touching effectively.

Yes, it’s probably fine. Most interactions are probably fine. Going out for a picnic is probably fine. If I get the virus, I’ll probably be fine too. The point of lockdown, though, is to reduce those remote possibilities among millions and millions of people.

An activity where you encourage unnecessary sharing of painted stones is a bit dumb, in these circumstances.

CV19 is a new virus, but "The analysis of 22 studies reveals that human coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus or endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV) can persist on inanimate surfaces like metal, glass or plastic for up to 9 days"

www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext

I have no way to weigh one source against another so make of that what you will, but I would have thought that was reason enough to be cautious. Assuming that you don't want your family to contract it. Since we do need some people to get it and recover I am ok with some people volunteering.

I'd say right now, it probably isn't a good idea. But given there are 100's 'in the wild', it is down to individuals to assess the risk it poses to them.

Handing them to random people? Not a chance.

It’s very popular where I live, in fact most of the large flat pebbles have disappeared from my front garden to this end 😂
I like to see them when I am out walking, but I would never pick one up to take it ( back) home.
Hundreds of dogs may have widdled on it ! 🤣

Again, you've only quoted part of the paper Dolly and again, as I said, it's possible but unlikely.

I help run my towns one.
We have 3K plus members

Stones are varnished.
So they can be disinfected. Wiped over with a antibac wipe etc....

I personally wouldnt handle them right now.
But iv made lots during lockdown to put out when things are more settled

I personally wouldnt touch it,

What’s unlikely?

That any particular individual will be infected by sharing stones? (Agree. Extremely unlikely.)

Or that the Covid19 virus will be spread somewhere by people sharing stones? (No way of knowing - not worth the risk.)

I'd have told her you're not supposed to pass it round, the stone is intended for children to find, hide it again.
Daft woman.

I have just read about the same thing in my village here.Of course it was started by some young Mother,and is a silly idea. Village people like their small,and big stones all grey and natural, and left alone. I hope nobody comes to my place,I have some stones and gravel.