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?

@newwnamme
@PickAPi

Lol
I didn't literally mean that wiping shopping would counteract the risk of me picking up Covid in a bar ! I'm not that stupid

I just meant that we all do what we feel comfortable with. I started cleaning shopping just before lockdown , and I've not stopped as literally takes me 10 mins no big deal, and it may give some protection as who knows who has been touching stuff .

But , other side of the coin I am not someone who has been hiding in my house for 5 months and I will quite happily go and have a meal in a restaurant.

I'm not hyper anxious / worried about infection (hence going out) but have continued to wipe down shopping as it's no big hassle so figure I might as well continue

I never have and never will wipe my shopping.

@Antonin

We wipe stuff that goes in fridge, freezer and the quarantine period is shorter than the rest that goes straight into quarantine. To avoid mixups one person in household is responsible for release of stuff from quarantine. Might seem tedious but with a house full of vulnerable people it’s a lot less tedious, not to say perilous than not taking precautions because we can’t be bothered to continue. Folk who aren’t vulnerable or who of the same mind as Piers Corbyn and Trump shouldn’t judge the rest of us. A young person with no known underlying health issues attended a Covid Party in the US arranged by people who felt precautions were unnecessary and his last words before he died were “I was wrong” (sorry no ref but it was reported by the Guardian)

Just because people aren't wiping down their groceries you think they should be compared to Donald Trump?! Dramatic and short sighted.

I didn’t expect him to do anything because I knew I was going to wipe the bar of chocolate down myself. I just mentioned it because packaging is not classed as clean. It wasn’t before COVID either. I own, and used to work in my food business. Things get dropped and stuff gets spilt on them in supermarkets. I used to be a bit complacent about it but my immune system isn’t great so COVID hygiene “rules” aren’t too much of a stretch from my usual ones.

@megletthesecond

I have just stopped. But now the dc's are back at school I think I might start again. I still quarantine as much as I can.

Hi Meglet

I wash my shopping (I quarantine as much as possible - everything non fridge/freezer) so I'm not criticising at all!

And as people often ask 'how' - I used cold water & dish washing liquid & give everything a proper wash. Not veg though, they go in a drawer in the fridge & I wash them as I'm going to use them. I found they just weren't keeping if washed before they went into the fridge) )

But would you mind trying to explain why the kids being back at school makes a difference to whether you wash your shopping or not?

@AlexaShutUp

Do it if you want to, but I can't live like that personally - and I'm on the more cautious end of the spectrum with regard to Covid!

I just put my shopping away and then wash my hands straight afterwards.

How does that help when you next take the milk out the fridge to make a cuppa?

@MadameBlobby

If it hadn’t been for mumsnet I wouldn’t have known that wiping down shopping and quarantining post and parcels was a thing. Crazy behaviour.

There is no need to be rude! None.

It's not 'crazy' to reduce the risk of bringing COVID into your house.

If you don't feel it's necessary, that's fine. Other people think it is. Can you not just respect that?

I could call you crazy for not bothering when you could do something to reduce a risk, but it's not helpful name calling.

My opinion is that if transition via surfaces wasn't a risk, we wouldn't need to be sanitising desks/door handles etc.

My opinion is that if transition via surfaces wasn't a risk, we wouldn't need to be sanitising desks/door handles etc.

Exactly

@AvoidingRealHumans

I know one person that did this and I must admit I laughed secretly to myself. She isn't still doing it as she has thankfully come to her senses. I don't think many people will still be doing this, we all fell for the government scaring us half to death but now are able to risk assess for ourselves using the data and statistics.

Well aren't you a charmer?

Yes & the data & statistics say surfaces need to be cleaned. The virus doesn't distinguish between the surface of a desk & the surface of a bottle of milk.

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?

@Crunchymum

How does one quarantine shopping?

I leave it in bags & write the date on them and put them in the spare room for a week or so ( basically until I need something or there are too many bags looking messy). . (Obviously not fridge/freezer stuff!).

Never have done, never will do :)

@newwnamme

If you have time to wipe down your shopping, or even time to spend mulling over whether it should or needn't be wiped, you're in a more privileged position than most people living through this pandemic.

How does making the time to wash/wipe down shopping/stuff coming into the house make me privileged?

Utter nonsense

I still do it. I can remember to wash my hands before eating foot but the dc just won't. I am finding my quarantine box is also quite useful in terms of stopping them from eating every snack I buy the minute it enters the house!

@Pipandmum

No. If people are really worried wear gloves and remove food from packaging. The viral load would be minuscule if an infected person touched it. The science doesn't support the idea of washing or quarantining packaging.

So people are told not to share pens, children are not allowed to share supplies at school, not to have cutlery out in table in restaurants etc & we are all told to wash our hands etc but the block of cheese in a wrapper that someone coughs over is somehow magically not covered in the virus?

There's no logic there, there really isn't.

I would rather just wash the carton of milk Than decant it why wouldn't you?! And I'm not putting in gloves every time I make a cup of tea - I'd rather just know it's free of Covid.

@RosieLemonade

People on this website are loopy!

Says someone on this website.

I can't even share a stapler at work without spraying it.

@IdblowJonSnow

No... a step too far for me. I do quarantine my post for a day or two though! Also known as ignoring dull post such as bill's and statements.

Also, how the actual fuck can you disinfect things like a loaf of bread or box of cereal?

I buy bread for my elderly relative whose shopping I do (I don't eat it). I just buy sliced and wipe the plastic bag with a soapy cloth Then wipe the soapy water off with a fresh water cloth. Same with cereal box (for her. I don't eat cereal either 🤣) but anything of mine in boxes just goes into quarantine. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Wearywithteens

I think if you’re the sort of person who obsesses about this, your health will suffer whether there is Covid or not. Unless you are seriously immune compromised get a bloody grip.

I have 'a bloody grip' thank you

It's not me who thinks 2000 cases A DAY & rising, should just be ignored.

This is one way of reducing transmission, it doesn't harm anyone, so why not do it?

Have not done it once.
Have not considered doing it once.
Won’t be doing it.

My cereal always gets decanted into cereal Tupperware (upright things) anyway. I empty the loaf into a loaf bag (which I have for homemade bread when I can be bothered making it).

The latest evidence seems to be that the risk of viral infection via surfaces is very low for this virus. Very low risk does not mean no risk, but to me it makes more sense to simply wash your hands after handling shopping rather than washing/wiping all your items.

Obviously if you were to touch your face or more specifically your nose, mouth or eyes after touching a surface which had the virus on it then there is a risk (depending on how much virus and how long it had been there). But the odds of someone with the virus infecting a surface by sneezing/ coughing/ breathing/ talking and then you touching that surface a short time afterwards and then touching your face seems very low especially given the current low numbers of infected people (about 1 in 2000). And that tiny risk is practically eliminated by thoroughly washing your hands, which seems a lot quicker and easier than washing all your shopping.

@Hangingbasketofdoom

I can't even share a stapler at work without spraying it.

This is relevant. I think because we have an absent, useless government ( ) we take some of our lead from other environments.

I am only allowed in my office alone, on alternate days from colleagues, have been given stuff to wipe touch points.

I think if you work in construction, sharing a van, chucking tools back and forth, you will have had very different 'covid conditioning'?

it doesn't harm anyone, so why not do it?

A range of anxiety-driven, irrational, evidence-free actions could be considered as above. We do not do this, if we indulge these behaviours there is no line to be drawn ever. Just that bit. Just that bit more. Doesn’t harm anyone does it so that bit more.

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!