Are you still wiping groceries?

[Lovely1a2b3c]

Just that! We have been wiping food shopping items as some of the family are vulnerable (not shielding) but wondering if it's time to stop?

I never have and never will just wash my hands when I’m done

Never wiped anything.

No never have. I worry this sort of thing is causing unnecessary OCD and anxiety that will be difficult to unpick as some of the replies here suggest.

Where do people quarantine their shopping/post etc for 72 hrs ? I don't really have anywhere to put it that wouldn't involve falling over or kicking it on a regular basis. The post falls through the door into the hallway so I would need to move it , do you pick it up and wash your hands, use tongs ? Does the post all go in seperate bags so you know which day it arrived on and how long it has been quarantined ?
The post arrives when I am at work, so would need to train the children to deal with it and given that they cannot bring an empty toilet roll downstairs, I think I would be on a hiding to nothing with that

I grew up with a germ phobic parent, as I got to my teens and realised some of the behaviours my parent saw as normal and necessary were nothing of the sort it caused difficulty in our relationship. It still causes friction in adulthood (I'm in my 50s now). I don't want to go there with my DCs.

I've been wondering the same thing @frumpety! Also, if a parcel arrives I'm far too impatient to wait 72 hours to open it!

Where do people quarantine their shopping/post etc for 72 hrs ? I don't really have anywhere to put it

Washing line. The added UV sterilisation reduces necessary quarantine to 48hrs.

@Floatyboat it would end up covered in bird poo if I did that which would rather defeat the object of avoiding germs

@riceuten

No, I never did. It was utterly ridiculous for the most part, and completely ineffective. I even heard of people running a bath and washing their weeks shopping in it.

I think Dave from the Royle Family knew what was coming... 😂

@Floatyboat

That is a joke right ? 🤣🤣🤣

@QueenofmyPrinces

The thing that I question is when does all this cleaning the shopping and quarantining it, as well as cleaning phones, keys, post etc actually stop?

At what point are people going to say “Right, the risk is really low now so I don’t need to do this anymore”?

My worry is that people who are going to this extreme will never be able to bring themselves to stop doing it.

We have dropped to Level 3, it is thought risk of infection is very low, lock down is lessening, schools are back, shops are open, workplaces are open, public transport is normalising, sport is taking place again etc etc so as life returns to normal, at what point do people realise they too have to return to normal and stop washing and quarantining their food?

Im not saying this in a goading or judgemental way - I’m just genuinely concerned about the extreme anxiety/paranoia that this virus seems be causing some people and the impact it will have on their behaviour and mental health.

And will people keep doing it as the threat of Covid drops but the rate of nasty flue starts rising? And then it will be Norovirus season...

By most shopping-washing people's reasoning, shopping should always be being washed, as people can die of flu, noro can be horrible if you have a houseful of children...and then there will be all those other 'mystery viruses' that float about...

So when would it all stop? Currently it's Covid, what next?

I've ohly got a limited number of years left to me and I'm fucked if I'm spending one second of them washing my shopping! Things people put in their mouths are far more likely to be a risk to them than the next person who handles it!

The squirrels would think all their birthdays had come at once if I hung my groceries out on the washing line :o

How does wiping remove the virus given that you're supposed to use soap and water for 20 seconds on your hands?

@draughtycatflap brilliant I loved the royle family 

@Pootle40 I bloody hope it's a joke aswell

@Floatyboat

Where do people quarantine their shopping/post etc for 72 hrs ? I don't really have anywhere to put it

Washing line. The added UV sterilisation reduces necessary quarantine to 48hrs.

It's great. You've only got bird shit, fly detritus and snapped pegs to deal with instead

We would be inundated with rats if I hung food in the garden or put it in the shed the mice have converted into a basement garden apartment

Not since the controlling ex went home (was staying initially to help with DD while I was working). So nice to put shopping away without having to dettol/Milton everything and be asked a dozen times in twenty mins if I’ve washed my hands. I always unwrap fruit and veg from packaging before putting in the fridge/fruit bowl anyway and decant most packets into glass/plastic storage to prevent pests.

Have not been doing this and didn't even consider anyone might be actually. Though now its mentioned, I guess it makes sense for high risk people.

I'd be more worried about disintegration if I hung either my shopping or my post on the washing line. Have you SEEN how much it's been raining?

Although I guess 'I'm sorry I haven't paid my bills but they got wet and fell apart before I could' just may be a passable excuse to the electricity company.

Never have done op.

It's a question of priorities I think. Squirrels are and bird poo are not causing a world wide pandemic with devastating socio economic consequences.

But obviously if it's going to rain only put water proof things out. Squirrels near me are too fat to make it along our washing line it seems. And there is no tree above the washing line so no birds pooing routinely there. In fact I've never had any clothes ever get bird poo on them since we moved here.

Dont forget the rats @Floatyboat , they are very agile creatures , although maybe the fat squirrels have eaten them

@frumpety

Never seen rats on my washing line either. I'd like to think it's because I don't have any but probably because my garden has easier pickings for them in the compost bin.

The levels of fear and paranoia on this thread are both amazing and depressing. Do these people manage to take ‘risks’ in other areas of life, eg do they avoid cars due to the risk of a car crash? Or never drink alcohol? I can’t see how anyone’s mental health won’t suffer from having this hyper-vigilant attitude?

And the time it must take to do this... how do these avid sterilisers/disinfecters/letter-quarantiners fit in working, parenting, homeschooling etc ?

If I saw my neighbours had hung bags of shopping on their washing line I would think they had gone quite mad. Seriously, why do this?