To ask if you are touching handrails etc. In public places

[Goldendream]

Or not due to risk of covid?

Yes. I have, I do and I will.

Wow, some of the paranoia on here is astounding, not to mention ludicrous. People don’t press pedestrian crossing buttons- but take their chances on the road. People won’t hold stair hand rails- but will risk tripping or falling, possibly seriously injuring others. Why is perception so skewed?

Yes, I don't think I could go about my daily life without touching them but I make a point of not touching my face until I clean my hands.

I use my elbow or inside coat sleeve

Try to avoid surfaces such as on public transport, road crossing buttons, door handles etc etc. I often use a tissue to press a button and then dispose of it in a bag I carry for the purpose. Sometimes use disposable gloves. It’s not fear, it’s common sense and a habit easily acquired.

No....

But never did...

Im a weird germ freak

No, but not because of Covid (where surfaces are much lower risk than airborne transmission). I just have always been an elbow presser for lift/train door buttons etc and generally don't touch handrails and things. I grew up with an immunosuppressed family member and was taught to try and minimise risk to them with handwashing, avoiding touching high-touch surfaces with hands if possible. I'm not phobic of them and if I need to touch them I will with no issue at all, but maybe a bit more cautious than the average person.

@BananaPop2020 because you can't really control if you get hit by a driver on the road, but you can control whether or not you touch potentially germy surfaces? And you can't control falling or slipping downstairs necessarily, but you can control touching a handrail that 500 other people have touched?

The risk might be comparatively low in terms of 'getting hit by a car' or 'slipping on the stairs' vs 'getting norovirus from touching a handle on the tube' but, like all things, you minimise risk where you can.

So you look both ways when you cross the road, you watch where you're stepping on stairs and avoid slippery looking pavements, and you don't touch high-traffic surfaces unless you have to... Surely?

No, but I never do anyway.

How do you live a normal life without touching things other people have touched?

Very easily, thanks.

What about petrol pumps, door handles, shopping trolleys and baskets?

I use gloves for petrol pumps, open doors normally and do online grocery shopping. I also wear PPE when at work and dealing with suspected covid cases.

Yes, if I have to. I just use hand sanitizer afterwards. Every time I touch something from outside my house

fuck no

Never mind just touching surfaces on the tube, don't sit down or you might carry a bedbug home. Apparently loads of the overground trains round London are infested too, and some patterns of bedbug infestation follow certain bus routes! Hopefully lockdown reduced their population on public transport.

Ps. Kind of joking, of course we often have to sit down...but it does sometimes come to mind.

@HardJustGotHarder

No....

But never did...

Im a weird germ freak

Me too a bit, although am fine with the buttons at pedestrian crossings.

It appears we have overemphasized hand washing in the UK when the best thing you can do is observe the 2m rule.

@Northernsoullover

I haven't touched public surfaces in years. It was norovirus that put me off not Covid. I'm not obsessive about cleanliness by a longshot but lift buttons, toilet door handles, handrails? No thanks.

This.

No I'm not however I rarely did pre Covid.

I touch nothing, nit out of fear but because I'm really enjoying bit having caught a cold in 6 months and I'm thrilled.

I try not to use the buttons at the pelican crossing, or the train door buttons. I dont like lifts anyway for fear of getting stuck, and would generally use the stairs (I dont generally go in high rise buildings) I wouldnt use a handrail on stairs but I would on an escalator and sanitise afterwards.

I work with small children, i think this has helped me develop an iron constitution! I never seem to get bugs and rarely get flu/coughs/colds beyond a sniffle.

I do all the Covid recommended hand washing/sanitising and so far all is good but I'm not especially careful about avoiding touching stuff. I'm also not social distancing at work, it's not possible.

I always touch stuff, don't give it a second thought really. I wash my hands after going to the loo and before cooking and eating and that's it really. Since Covid I wash my hands when I come home after going out too, but I didn't before. Rarely get ill except the occasional cold,but I'm a teacher so I'm bound to catch those from kids anyway, including at the moment, since social distancing in schools is impossible. I'm always astonished by the level of germ hysteria on MN (in normal times- obviously it's more understandable atm).

I didn't touch them before Covid-19!

@Dowser

I touch everything. I’m not living my life in fear. That’s no life

I try not to touch things. I don't live in fear though, that's a ridiculous stretch even for Mumsnet

I’ve always hated touching handrails (etc) in public places.

One of the few benefits of the current situation is being able to get away with wearing gloves in public.

Can't say that I have ever thought about it.