Should we or should we not be wiping shopping??

[Jaem02]

I know the gov say it isn't necessary but lots of people are still wiping down or quarantining shopping. Should we be?

@LowLou

We started as we were shielding. I'm sick.of it now and considered stopping recently but there has been a very big community transmission jump in cases locally so I've decided I'll just keep it up.

We get click and collect so it's good way to see what dates are on what etc. I bung on the radio and sing and boogie as I do it.

I quarantine non perishable stuff for a few days to minimise the amount of time it takes..

At one stage when the numbers were very low & dropping I considered stopping, then the large Tesco near me had several staff test positive - so I didn't stop washing my Tesco deliveries!! (Or any others).

I found using a bowl of water with a decent amount of dishwashing liquid & a clean cloth made things much quicker and easier (than bleach or wipes). I just wash them like the dishes then rinse them off. & wipe anything that can't go in the bowl (like a punnet of strawberries - I wash the fruit/veg as I use it).

And 99.99% of non fridge/freezer stuff gets quarantined.

It doesn't take me very long now.

I'm sure when I catch covid someone will be along to tell me that I must have caught it from my shopping and there is no possible way I could have caught it from the 300 teenagers I teach!

@cabingirl

We did it at the beginning but stopped at the end of May when the latest research showed that the biggest risk was airborne droplets being inhaled and that picking up the virus from contact with surfaces was very low risk.

I still try not to touch my face while picking up new items etc and wash hands well after processing the shop into the cupboards etc.

Genuinely curious... why do you feel you don't need to worry about it once it's in your fridge/cupboards? Do you genuinely not think about it again afterwards, like 5 minutes later getting the milk out to make a cup of tea or whatever?

I don't and never have. We all make our own risk assessments and do what we feel comfortable doing.

"In my opinion, the chance of transmission through inanimate surfaces is very small, and only in instances where an infected person coughs or sneezes on the surface, and someone else touches that surface soon after the cough or sneeze (within 1–2 h). I do not disagree with erring on the side of caution, but this can go to extremes not justified by the data. Although periodically disinfecting surfaces and use of gloves are reasonable precautions especially in hospitals, I believe that fomites that have not been in contact with an infected carrier for many hours do not pose a measurable risk of transmission in non-hospital settings. A more balanced perspective is needed to curb excesses that become counterproductive."
www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30561-2/fulltext

@AlternativePerspective

No, and IMO anyone who does should probably consider whether they need help with their mental health.

There is no evidence that people are catching COVID from their shopping. If that were the case the figures would be much higher and deliveries would have been stopped not encouraged.

I’m fairly cautious as I am in the likely to die category as well, but here’s the thing. There is no point worrying about dying if you’re not actually living. And living in a bubble where everything is sanitised just in case you die is not a healthy way to live.

We’re all going to die of something, chances are the need to control your life so rigidly is more likely to kill you (through suicide etc) than COVID.

Spending 10 minutes washing my shopping doesn't stop me having a life 🤣

Not wanting to risk putting COVID into my cupboards for the sake of stuff spending a few days in the spare room doesn't make my mental health an issue.

I think it's nasty saying people have MH issues & are at risk of suicide because they take 10 minutes to do something you think is unnecessary.

@MustShowDH

My husband has been making us do this since March. It's driving me potty!

Ditto! He refuses to change. I mostly leave him to do it himself.

Never bothered. Seemed pointless when I’ve worked throughout

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

The people i know who wipe shopping all either:

• have mental health issues (anxiety etc)

Or

• have relatively low intellectual ability and cannot analyse understand risk.

One friend wipes shopping etc but was straight back to her hairdresser when it reopened

ODFOD

I started as a doctor friend posted a video of another doctor showing how to do it on facebook. Not someone with low intelligence or mental health issues. I wonder what gets people's backs up so much about another person's choices that don't affect you?

This keeps coming up on MN.

Never done so, so nothing to stop.

@newwnamme

If you've got the time to spend wiping shopping you are privileged in the sense that you are / were not working long hours in an overstreched keyworker role for probably low wages like many people have been. Nor are you working from home and also trying to juggle childcare and homeschool, I.e doing the work of two or more people, like others have been, with resulting long days and zero free time. In short, if you're wiping down shopping, you have enough discretionary time after whatever paid work and domestic work you do to choose to participate in an entirely unnecessary task. And that is a lot more than many people have, hence your privilege.

More utter tripe

Whoever said shopping wipers exhibited low intelligence could point to this as an example. It is a complete fallacy to believe that wiping down shopping can counteract your eating in a restaurant or sitting in a bar. The virus sadly does not respond to bargaining statements such as - 'if I wipe down my shopping, can I sit in a bar?'

Except that's NOT what she said!!

@BillywilliamV

If you all stayed home wiping your shopping then maybe the rest of us could make a stab at a normal existence. Any one know anyone who has caught Covid from a pint of milk?

@BillywilliamV Can anyone pinpoint exactly where they caught covid? I don't see how anyone can distinguish where they picked it up, either from breathing it in or touching a surface....so it may just be that pint of milk!

nobody should be having a stab at a normal existence. We are in the middle of a pandemic where we have to wear face masks, social distance, quarantine...the list goes on. I can't see anything normal in that and I don't think adding wiping the shopping to the list is crazy, if people choose to do that too.

If there is no risk from catching the virus on food packaging, why does anyone even wash their hands after touching it/putting it away?

I’ve never done it myself. I work in a large supermarket handling the cash and a little till work so it seemed a bit OTT to do it when I’d been at much higher risk of exposure during the working day.

I do wash my hands very regularly at home anyway. We have an old dribbly dog so I’m usually washing slobber off my hands every hour and certainly before eating/drinking.

I dislike this hounding of folks doing what they’re comfortable with though. If it gives you peace of mind to wash your shopping and you’re not harping on at me that I should be doing it then live and let live. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

@Mogtheforgetfulmum

It seems a bit mad to be wiping my shopping down now I'm spending 25 hours in an unventilated classroom with 300 students a week and no PPE or social distancing!

Do you also think it's mad to wear a seatbelt in the car, if you don't wear a life jacket in a boat?

Or can you actually see them as totally unrelated risks. As are teaching & groceries!

Much kudos for teaching though, even pre Covid, but especially now 😊

I never did in the first place. Can't be doing with it tbh. I just wash my hands thoroughly after handling shopping. And when I use food,I wash my hands after disposing of the outer packaging.

I didn't wipe mine or the mail.

I did follow hand washing guidance though.

So wash hands after packing away shopping. After handling packaging and foods (and before but that's normal before cooking!)
Hand washing after opening mail.

@AmelieTaylor the risks may be unrelated. It one is much higher than the other. I can entirely identify with thinking that if the government has decreed being in a classroom with no social distancing is safe (it must be, right, or they wouldn’t be asking everyone to do it?) the. The risk of unwashed shopping must be negligible.

Never heard of anyone doing this outside of Mumsnet, seems way over the top to me.

Yes we still are.
There seems to be a huge thing on MN of people smuggle proud that they’re never done it, and laughing at those that do, with no empathy that there are those that had to do this (chemo etc) even before covid existed.

We still do, but I was a shielded person.

i don’t and i always buy a sandwich to eat on the way home. i stick the trolley back and get stuck into my sandwich without washing my hands and i’m still alive!

Yes this topic does keep popping up on MN as a pp said.

We have always wiped everything but only casually. Saying that, I do always wipe the tied up bit on the end of a bread bag! I never used to be like this!

I have been giving a quick wipe with a damp cloth that gas been sprayed with bleach spray. Generally not at all a clean freak (in fact a bit of a slob) but I see how lax people are, not using sanitizer when going into shops, sneezing into their hands etc. Considering we are still told to keep washing hands, and kids are being told to sanitise hands frequently at school, presumably the risk of picking it up from surfaces still exists. At the very least the checkout staff has touched your stuff after touching stuff someone else touched first. You're more likely to put your fingers in your mouth after touching foodstuffs than a door handle aren't you?

@Greeneyes78

i don’t and i always buy a sandwich to eat on the way home. i stick the trolley back and get stuck into my sandwich without washing my hands and i’m still alive!

That's genuinely quite gross!