Still wiping down groceries?

[Cam77]

Just wondered if anyone is still doing this? At the beginning we were told the virus can live on surfaces for X number of days, but as far as I’m aware, the powers that be never elaborated on whether it was a real risk of transmission.

I have elderly parents and am being extra cautious for their sakes. I was about to stop wiping a few weeks ago but then number started going again when I live. I know the risk is super small, but anyway, anyone else still consider this worth doing? Or was the science updated somewhere to say there’s no risk of transmission from groceries/parcels etc?

[IndiaMay]

Never did. Just upped hand washing

[Celan]

Never did wipe them down. Went to the shops every day during lockdown. Ate crisps on the way home from Tesco without using hand sanitiser. I have not had Covid (or not to my knowledge, anyway). I think the risk is in practice very small.

[Roussette]

We're probably the age of your parents, and have never done it. We are careful but wouldn't dream of it being a problem.
I think you need to chill to be honest.
I find 'quarantining' your shopping in the garage totally bizarre!

[Emmie12345]

Never have , never would - would rather live my life than waste it wiping groceries down

[Roussette]

Dunking your shopping in disinfectant? Really?! Good grief

[JS87]

I would definitely wash my hands after touching a door handle though! The question is whether to wipe shopping. If some-one sneezed on it the viral load could be high.
The risk is probably even smaller now that most people in shops are wearing masks so less likely to contaminate their hands in a shop by coughing or sneezing on then.

[AssamorEarlGrey]

I get milk delivered and wash the bottles before putting them in fridge. That's because I make tea and coffee throughout the day and handle the bottles frequently. The risk may be tiny but it doesn't do any harm to be cautious.

I've never cleaned anything else. Salad stuff gets washed before use anyway and I wash my hands before cooking and eating.

A friend disinfects parcels before opening - I don't see the point. I open the parcel, throw away the packaging and wash my hands.

[Oaktree55]

Given fact the New Zealand new cases likely came from frozen food freight I will now start doing this yes as it’s likely possibly transmitted this way especially on frozen items.

[SoupDragon]

I have never washed my shopping or dunked it in disinfectant. That seems really over the top to me.

[custardbear]

I do, it's habit now lol! I'm also from a science background with a degree in microbiology and know how easy transmission and cross contamination can be - I'm over cautious, albeit I now give a wide overcasting spray to everything and wipe over - I used to carefully wipe everything !
I still wipe door handles, tables, surfaces and kitchen doors with surfactant / disinfectant mix I make muself - it gives me peace of mind! 😎

[TooTTootY]

I read something by a top epidemiologist who said that basically there is a huge chain of events that has to happen in order for you to be infected by things like your food packaging which is why the risk is so low/negligible which includes things like the load being high enough, which is minimal if touched by someone for a short amount of time, the virus can live for 3 days on certain surfaces but not in the same quantity, it starts to die almost immediately meaning the amount after a short time is miniscule.

That's why the only thing suggested is to just wash your hands so you break that very small chance, chain of transmission.

[OverTheRainbow88]

I still wipe for my parents who are quite vulnerable as are immunosuppressive and have lung issues!

[IncrediblySadToo]

It's TINY

100 million viral particles of the novel coronavirus, can fit on a pinhead. That's how incredibly small they are

and you don't need much.

For example, SARS, another coronavirus, requires just a few hundred viral particles for an infective dose, while the dose for MERS is several thousands of particles

[TSSDNCOP]

@Laiste


Oh and we have about a million amazon deliveries a week

Slacker

[eeeyoresmiles]

Yes for frozen and chilled items that can't just wait a couple of days, partly because the cold will make any virus last longer. It's a quick job. I completely get why some people don't though, everyone's thresholds for taking active precautions are in slightly different places, which is fine.

[TooTTootY]

There are obviously people who know what they are talking about who've looked into this and they have said the evidence suggests it's not necessary. So people can do what they like, they can talk about the what if so and so touched this or that etc... But I think the people who actually study this sort of thing have a better idea than us so I'll stick to what they say.

[YouAfterMe]

nope

[IncrediblySadToo]

@YetAnotherSpartacus

Does anyone have links to an unquestionable source of CV-19 DEFINITELY having been transmitted via packaging?

No one knows how it is transmitted.

I want to reduce my chances of getting it. Therefore I wear a mask, wash my hands frequently, avoid going out unless necessary (esp. to crowded places, just out walking in the country is fine), choose to work from home (thankful I have that choice), carry sanitiser and wipe/store my shopping appropriately.

Yeah, hard to believe there's so much scorn for those of us simply doing everything we can to reduce our chances of getting it 🤷🏻‍♀️

[ElizabethWoodviIIe]

We still do - fill the sink with hot water then add a couple of teaspoons of thin bleach

Bleaching groceries?!

We've never wiped down/washed/quarantined stuff. I'm higher risk (autoimmune condition) and I mentioned this to my consultant in March when we were discussing ways to best avoid catching it. She said that all anyone needs to do is wash their hands regularly, and washing shopping is unnecessary.

Somebody on here was bleaching their vegetables and another was putting EVERYTHING that came into their house in the oven for ten minutes back in March/April

[sixlemons]

I never even started doing it.

[eeeyoresmiles]

That's why the only thing suggested is to just wash your hands so you break that very small chance, chain of transmission.

You only break it until you return and touch that item again though, which could be twenty minutes later while making a sandwich (which is a situation with a high risk of transfer to your mouth).

I don't want to be constantly thinking about that chain of transmission and having to remember to wash my hands extra times during food prep - I'd rather wipe packaging once when things come in then forget about it after that.

[SirVixofVixHall]

We wash everything that is washable in soapy water, things like tins go into a warm place to quarantine ( heat destroys the virus more quickly). Frozen food that can’t be washed, like things in cardboard packaging, or bread in permeable plastic, get decanted into freezer bags. Other things that can’t be left somewhere warm, but also can’t be washed, and have a long shelf life, go into a quarantine box for a few days.
It is such a faff, but I feel more comfortable having done it !
Parcels I either open , empty and wash my hands, or leave for a few days. Plastic parcels I wipe over, card I just put in the recycling.

I am a cautious person. I have elderly friends who have never done this, and it probably isn’t necessary, but as the jury is out on potential risk I am going to carry on.

[WiseUpJanetWeiss]

Until a few weeks ago anything with a shiny or smooth surface that I was likely to need to use within 3 days got wiped/washed and everything else got “quarantined” for hours/days.

At the moment the likelihood of anyone with Covid having touched my goods is low, given the low incidence at present, and in any case the likelihood of the virus being viable is low. When we see the infections creeping up again my risk assessment will probably change. I will probably be most concerned about frozen and chilled products, and am likely to regard the contents of my freezer as possibly contaminated and so will take the same precautions for handling frozens as I do for raw chicken.

[IncrediblySadToo]

Emmie12345

Never have , never would - would rather live my life than waste it wiping groceries down
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Today 10:47 Roussette

Dunking your shopping in disinfectant? Really?! Good grief
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Today 10:47 user1471500037

You are a nutter!

Grow up - there's just no need for these types of ridiculous comments