Wiping Down Shopping

[Ilovemypantry]

This might have already been covered but without trawling through I just thought I’d ask anyway.

So...when you get your shopping home (or delivered) are you all cleaning every single item? If so, what are you using to clean with? Would an antibacterial wipe be suffice or does it need to be bleach? I am wiping things over with antibacterial wipe but a bit half heartedly tbh. It’s quite a daunting task having to wipe every single item before putting it away in the fridge/freezer/cupboard.
Just wondered how everyone else is tackling this.

a doctor said the virus can survive for 48 hours on paper and card and 72 on glass and plastic

But there's a difference between the virus surviving and it being possible to contract an illness from it.

How many people have caught flu or noro from their shopping? Same sort of thing, viruses can live for AGES on surfaces. But they aren't always viable to replicate in the human body afterwards.

@EngagedAgain
Everything is so much faffing about now isn’t it? Touch something, wash hands, forget and touch something else so wash hands again and so it goes on and on....my hands are so rough and dry now 😢

@Zaphodsotherhead

But for those that work in a supermarket who have caught the virus, how would they know whether they’d caught it from handling packaging or not?

I wear gloves and wipe every item with anti bac wipes. I change the wipe every 5-6 items. I then put stuff away in the fridge/feeezer and put the rest in the garage/under the stairs for 24 to 72 hours before use

I do the exact same as @twinkleprincess

OP, Yy, the reason I don't over fuss is because of this. There's usually a slip up somewhere along the line! I don't want to come over as complacent. I certainly do not want to get the virus. I've got a couple of the risk factors, but no one knows how they will be affected, that's the thing. I do open post with gloves on, discard envelopes, wear gloves shopping (not yet mask). I don't wash shopping, just wash hands more often if inadvertently touched something. I figure it's still early days so take some precautions, but not be obsessive, but everyone is entitled to do what makes them feel more comfortable.

@Ilovemypantry

I think, in our case, if they hadn't been in contact AT ALL with ANYONE who had virus symptoms, they could assume it was caught through packaging.
In fact, nobody at all who works in our supermarket has had the virus or any symptoms that even approximate to it. That's after how many months of it apparently being incredibly infectious?

No I do t, I don't have the time or inclination

Yes, everything gets sprayed
Shopping bags sprayed on step, then all items unloaded into worktop and sprayed.
Amazon boxes and letters too.
I can’t imagine not doing it now.
We’re not going anywhere so not concerned about car, supermarket, takeaways, anywhere public

I don't wipe down anything at all. It goes out the bags and into the fridge/cupboard.

We only get fruit or veg that's in plastic (after being so good and trying to buy loose before this!) and spray all with dettol. I don't know if it does anything, the head of one of the food authorities in Ireland said it's unnecessary and then a leading microbiologist said they do it if only for peace of mind so I went with the second!!

What is the point in wiping anything down with anti bac wipes?

No. There’s absolutely no point. You will never clean every millimetre. You will likely cross contaminate (splashes, brushing packaging against something else etc etc). You will drive yourself mad.

I did it once because I’d seen on here people were, and it was hugely stressful, massively triggering (I’m recovered from diagnosed ocd) and I don’t want my 3 year old to think that that is a normal way to behave.

Unless someone coughed onto your packet of pasta or whatever, the viral load would be so small that any risk is theoretical and unproven (to date).
The presence of a virus on packaging does not equate to transmissible viral load.

No, risk is tiny. I put shopping away and wash hands

someone infectious coughed directly onto

I quarentine my shop in the garage in boxes for a couple of days, but I've only had two food deliveries in about 7 weeks now so it's not too bad, I'd probably get sick of it if I was doing it weekly!

I don't wipe anything down. There is a lot of harsh chemicals in antibacterial wipes so I don't want that anywhere near my food. I just wash my hands after all shopping is put away and before preparing and eating food.

Another one who is wiping down all our shopping. I alternate between dettol spray, soapy water and wipes as I'm not sure which is the best to use.

It seems to take ages so anything in bottles, tins goes in the shed for a few days, although even then I wipe them when I bring them in to be sure.

I the case of fruit and veg I'm buying everything pre-packed and emptying out of package when I get home. Mostly I have cooked veg rather than salad .

Don’t want to set the cat amongst the pigeons either but...

There will very likely be a significant second wave of Coronavirus later in the year.
When you look at the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, mortality rates were disproportionately high in places where in the first wave there had been little transmission, and lower in places where there had been more transmission (allowing for adjustment due to first wave mortality etc).

The virus had mutated and was more deadly- many who might have survived the less deadly version died.

I’m not saying go out and try to catch it- but do bear in mind that if you’re fit and well and not shielding someone, acquiring a case through fomite transmission with a low viral load (cases which seem to be milder - ie if you catch it from a small amount of virus smeared on a door handle, it SEEMS you get less sick than if you’re a medic coming directly into contact with infected patients)... might not be the worst risk...

@Zaphodsotherhead

That’s great that you or any of your colleagues haven’t caught the virus, hope it stays that way. I think I speak for everyone (I hope!) that we are so grateful to all those working on the frontline to keep the rest of us safe.

@TheSheepofWallSt

Omg you have indeed set the cat amongst the pigeons. That sounds really scary 😱

We don't clean our shopping and we haven't got CV yet.

I did one time but then thought how can it help when I have to wash my hands for 20 seconds, I don't wash packaging for that time so I'm just trying to be careful. We quarantine dry goods and have 2 fridges, one which stuff goes in from the shop and after it's been there a while it moves to another fridge?

@Ilovemypantry

I mean I wouldn’t worry about that at this point. There’s enough to be going on with. But I do truly think that this is here to stay, and personally I’d quite like to have a measure of immunity/ immune responsiveness to covid19 sooner than later.

I had suspected covid in the last month, and although it was unpleasant my symptoms were relatively mild- wish very much I knew if it was.