Are people still quarantining their food shopping

[UntamedWisteria]

Not sure I can be bothered with this any more, nor that it makes much difference anyway.

What do other folk think?

A few scientists were asked how to clean/disinfect your shopping, and gave instructions on the best way to do so. They never actually said it was necessary though.

I didn’t know it was a thing.

For the supermarket workers who are saying you are handling produce all data, every day and just washing hands regularly.

That's great. That will work (sol long a you don't touch your face between hand washing). A great strategy.

But you are not living worth the products in your home and could be perhaps using produce at times when you are less alert. A workplace is very different to a home environment.

We antibacterial spray and wipe everything then all the floor where any bags have gone
For parcels we have a bag by the door we put them in there for 48 hrs then spray and wipe them and clean the contents
Post goes straight into a bag attached to the letterbox and we wait 48 hrs our gloves open it and 9 times out of 10 can throw it away

Yep. Our city is a hotspot.

At the moment, approximately 0.27% of the population are believed to be infected with coronavirus.
So the chances of one of that 0.27% coughing or sneezing into their hands and then touching the exact same item that I want to buy, or coughing/sneezing directly on to that item, then me buying it soon after, and the virus particles being present in sufficient numbers for me to be infected, and for me to touch those particles and then put my hands in my mouth or on my face without washing them are... very very fucking slim.

I was listening a scientist on LBC this morning who said e virus could last for upto nine days on some surfaces. He seemed to know his stuff.

The question about the viral load a PO mentioned is an interesting one though which he didn't address.

So much, just so much is unknown about this virus. Please don't ridicule those who are edging their bets.

People were ridiculing those that thought going to Chelmsford wasn't such a bad idea a few months ago!

0.27 of the entire population of the UK is a lot of people. And they're not evenly spread across the land area either.

If you dont want to clean/quarantine your shopping then don't. Why does it bother you that others do?

Oh and I caught COVID back in March at a time that our government was claiming community transmission was rarer than the unicorn, so you'll excuse me if I am not reassured by their statistics.

Well 0.27% of my town is 19 people.
It doesn’t bother me that others do. Do what you want! I’m responding to people saying things like ‘why take the risk?’. I’m not ‘taking the risk’, because I have assessed the risk to be absolutely minute. So my question is why are they bothered that I don’t?

Yes, dh works for a supermarket and certain staff have turned in with symptoms (apparently self isolating only applies to certain people ) and handling stock. Like hell I'm not doing that (I'm vulnerable though not shielding).

Community transmission was highest in March, before lockdown. Approx 4% of the population are believed to have been infected in the 2 weeks before lockdown, with an R rate of 3. Far higher community transmission than now.

@Sadie789
both my parents have multiple health issues which make coronavirus a serious risk for them. I am still far more worried about the many other ways they could come to harm than by catching coronavirus from a bag of supermarket salad
That doesn’t make our family wrong or ridiculous to not want to take that risk, however small it may be. I am young , have young children the health condition I am shielding for will not lower my life expectancy in any way. However I am extremely vulnerable in relation to Covid19 .

@Sadie789 - some people DON'T have a carbon monoxide alarm?!

Has there ever be official government advice to do this?

I think there was something on the shielding guidelines at one stage.

But I'm not taking prevention advice from the man who shook hands with Infected patients & even after Italy was in a right state with many deaths, was STILL saying 'it's just a mild flu like thing'

It WAS recommended by several virologists who do it themselves

& I know who I prefer to trust.

Nope I have never bothered

Yes, I am trying to get a delivery slot for my food shopping. I also wipe everything including any contents from the parcels.

Does everyone wash all clothes, car steering wheel, bank card, purse, hand bag etc down, I've been wiping shopping but then my clothes have touched the basket in the shops and probs my bottoms so what's the point?

Not quarantining stuff but the start I was spraying every item with disinfectant as soon as It was through the door, I don't bother now. I've become desensitized sadly.

I probably should, but we suspect we may have already at the end of march so I can't be bothered.

Erm no? Didn’t realise it was a thing tbh!

For the PP who asked why it bothered people that they didn’t for me it’s the fact that you could touch something that I then do, if you’re a carrier I could pick it up. Your inaction could affect me but my action has no impact on you. A small risk granted, but I minimise risk where I have a choice eg car tracker and immobiliser is it makes sense to me to do it now.

I do it, I wash down fridge stuff, get rid of packaging or shove it in a cupboard for a couple of days. I leave post for a couple days too. No big deal to do and it helps me relax a bit tbh...

I know that they've said the virus can live on surfaces, but my understanding is that it can't live in sufficient amounts to give anyone enough of a viral load that they'd actually contract the illness

If this is correct, surely so long as we are not shaking hands or touching each other's faces, we don't need to do handwashing. Children can share iPads, toys, pencils etc when they get back to school. No need to wipe desks or door handles.

My mum who is shielding still does, she has been isolating since before the official lockdown started and hasn’t left the house/ garden since. We do her shopping each week, collect her medicines and anything else she needs drop it off at the front door, then she cleans it all down before putting it away, she also lets her mail lie for a few days. It makes her feel safer so what’s the harm and she has all the time in the world. We don’t clean our shopping though.

@Bartlet it's a shame what could be an intelligent response has to be wrapped up in such a nasty bitchy tone.