Quarantining post and washing of groceries as new strain more transmissible?

[AlaskanSnow]

My husband and I are both CEV.
Over the summer, and since mask wearing came in we have been a bit more complacent about our activities - thinking nothing of doing a weekly shop in store instead of taking delivery slots, eating out when we were tier 1, etc.

Now the virus is ravaging where we live, and hospitals are overwhelmed we have completely retreated again into full lockdown - only leaving the house to walk the dog.

If this new strain is crazily transmissible, should we be washing our food deliveries and quarantining post?
I know there was a lot of talk of this early on, but cases were so low where we lived in the spring it seemed overkill. Now, I'm wondering if we should start?

I open the post then wash my hands thoroughly with soap. I tend not to wash food packaging but would wash my hands after touching it.

[quote housemdwaswrong]@namechange84 I know it's almost impossible.to manage anxiety, but if it helps I haven't done any of those things, and have been out to supermarkets at very quiet times and we've all been fine. The only people I know that have caught it have been from schools, not shopping. X[/quote]
I honestly see it as a tiny price to pay (antibaccing shopping) for a bit of extra peace of mind. I have an autoimmune disease, neutropenia and a heart condition. My quality of life has already been shit since I was a kid, I couldn’t cope with long Covid as well, if I’d even survive a ventilator if I needed it given I’ve had lung damage from two previous bouts of pneumonia from the common cold. My cardiologist did say I needed to be extremely careful and to be fair I’ve been advised to shield on and off for almost 10 years and have always been advised to avoid crowds, stay home more in flu season etc. I’m in a Tier 4 area. There’s been lots of cases amongst people I know from schools, care homes, hospitals but also supermarkets, socialising, possibly a short church service in one instance, loads in pubs and restaurants before the November lockdown. I don’t have children, I’m single and I’m being allowed to teach from home, so thankfully I have some other risks minimised. I really don’t mind antibaccing shopping at all.

What's the problem with people coughing on fruit? Surely you wash an apple before you eat it, and have clean hands before touching any kind of food? I mean no, it's not ideal op

I don't understand the need for disinfecting a bag of pasta because I wash my hands after putting it in the cupboard, and again after touching the packaging when I cook it. Don't people wash their hands before/during/after they cook?

Incomplete post!

• it's not ideal to cough on fruit in the supermarket but I don't see the need to bleach it either - that should read

@EileenGC

What's the problem with people coughing on fruit? Surely you wash an apple before you eat it, and have clean hands before touching any kind of food? I mean no, it's not ideal op

I don't understand the need for disinfecting a bag of pasta because I wash my hands after putting it in the cupboard, and again after touching the packaging when I cook it. Don't people wash their hands before/during/after they cook?

Rinsing it in water wouldn't remove the virus if someone has coughed on it...

Following a virologist friend’s advice, we have been washing shopping and quarantining Mail. Covid lives on surfaces of things that have been touched by an infected person. It’s simple as.
Count yourself lucky if you did not get covid so far.

No did it once but decided it was totally OTT
Bacterial wipes useless its viral

If it makes you feel safer do it.

I find it odd personally, I've not done it once and I go to the supermarket about 3 times a week and I've not had Covid (that I know of). I was under the impression it was airborne.

Surely all the supermarket staff/post office staff would be catching it if you could catch it that way.

You don't need to wash packaging whatever anyone's 'virologist friend' has allegedly said.

Here is the actual HMGov OFFICIAL advice:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-consumers-on-coronavirus-covid-19-and-food/guidance-for-consumers-on-coronavirus-covid-19-and-food

"What you need to know about coronavirus and food

It is very unlikely that you can catch coronavirus (COVID-19) from food.

Cooking thoroughly will kill the virus.

<strong>COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. It is not known to be transmitted by exposure to food or food packaging.</strong>

Everyone should wash their hands regularly with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds, to reduce the risk of illness.

It is especially important to wash hands before handling food or eating."

We have never done a single of these things, we aren’t doing it now and we won’t be doing any of this.

The stuff on the govt website is not the complete picture at all.
Our govt told us not to wear masks, remember?
We can learn a lot from other countries too.

Virus’ can travel on packing.
What we are dealing with now is an unknown mutation and the worry is it will keep mutating.

We clean our food before going onto shelves and wash our veg etc. It’s an easy thing to do.
Seems obvious in a pandemic.

The logic of ‘I haven’t been doing this and am fine - therefore I think it’s unnecessary’ is very flawed as a basis for any risk assessment in life!

I usually just wash fruit and veg with water, not using soap. My aim isn't to remove the virus, but bits of soil etc (I thought most people did that pre-Covid). Most fruit/veg we eat is packaged in bags anyway (all that evil plastic has turned out to be useful after all). I wash hands before cooking but not after handling a pasta packet. I've never quarantined post or cleaned groceries but I'm not cev or an anxious person either. None of us have got infected despite living in a densely populated part of London and having a dd in nursery.

@namechange84 was only trying to offer some reassurance :) as I said in previous post, people should do what suits.

@so.ewhereelsewhere I'm not advising that anybody uses my post to form their risk assessment, I was merely saying that it's nothing's a dead cert and if people are going to worry about washing shopping then maybe it would have offered some reassurance that not doing so would not inevitably lead to covid.

@Somewhereelsewhere

The stuff on the govt website is not the complete picture at all. Our govt told us not to wear masks, remember? We can learn a lot from other countries too.

Virus’ can travel on packing.
What we are dealing with now is an unknown mutation and the worry is it will keep mutating.

We clean our food before going onto shelves and wash our veg etc. It’s an easy thing to do.
Seems obvious in a pandemic.

Can you perhaps actually quote the source material (ie not your own issues/beliefs from your own head) of what 'other countries' are advising?

Here is one to start you off.

What the cdc in the USA states:

"Unpack safely at home

Currently, the risk of infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from food products, food packaging, or bags is thought to be low. However, it is always important to follow good food safety practices.
When unpacking groceries, refrigerate or freeze meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and other perishables within 2 hours of purchasing.
<strong>Do NOT use disinfectants designed for hard surfaces, such as bleach or ammonia, on food packaged in cardboard or plastic wrap.</strong>
After unpacking groceries, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Regularly clean and disinfect kitchen counters using a commercially available disinfectant productexternal icon or a DIY disinfecting solution."

I mean if you can catch this from someone talking or simply breathing particles out, bleaching pasta packets probably isn't necessary. If it makes you feel safe though, crack on.
I'd feel a bit daft doing that one day then the next going into school to teach my class of 32 children with barely any protection. But there you go.

Bleach is indicated in increased incidence of COPD. Hot soapy water is key, because it begins to kill the virus.

We quarantine post, have done since March, DH is CV.

If it makes you feel safe then do it. I wash my hands after touching anything so don't see the point, but then again I'm not classed as vulnerable.

I told DH that if he wanted to wipe down the shopping then fine but don't expect any help from me and don't even think about quarantining my post!

I don't wash packaging in bleach, just hot soapy water.

I'm guessing the majority of people who think it is overkill (!) aren't CEV/CV? The potential proximity to serious illness or death tends to concentrate the mind and makes small actions like this feel like an extremely reasonable thing to do.

I do wipe down the shopping.

For those worried about going through the checkouts , use the scan and go machines if you can. You need one if their loyalty cards to do it , but you can scan and pack as you go along and you only need the assistant if you have bought alcohol or they flag up a spot check ( which doesn't take long) or tags need taking off.
I find it a bit quicker and I also wear disposable gloves now too ( tier 4 , high cases area)
I hated doing it at first and I know it's taking jobs ( although they still need two assistants in the bigger stores to man the scan check out area) it does save time and lessens the risk a bit.

Still wiping here. Envelopes and delivery packaging go straight into recycling. No takeaways either. Bought a coffee machine instead.

If you can catch it from surfaces then it stands to reason it can be on food packaging surely.

@fuzzypuffling I am ecv, but I domr wipe the shopping down. It's not a badge of honour though, in my case it was a change I wasn't prepared to make, to prevent myself tipping into obsession about it. Right call for me, but I've definitely had my moments so understand why people do. Absolutely each to their own.

My husband read a few days ago that it was proved that only fragments of the virus remain on surfaces. That it's ability to infect was minimal.

However this was with the original strain not the new strain. I pointed out that we don't know if the new strain might linger for longer on surfaces. We just don't know.

I've been giving things a quick wipe down with dettol clear multi surface spray since March. I'm still doing this.

We are CEV and CV in our household. We will be doing everything until we are vaccinated.

I'm CEV and have been wiping our shopping with bleach solution since March.

Cev and, like the OP, became a bit more lax.

I wipe shopping that has been touched by checkout person (dh goes to supermarket) but if it’s self-scanned, don’t bother.

Post... depends whether I spot delivery person wearing gloves or not.

I actually don’t believe posters who swear they caught covid from the shopping/post. It’s a chance in a million and I think they are being economical with the truth about their activities.