Wiping down the food shopping?!?

[SpringGlade004]

Anyone else out there still (if you have at all) wiping their food shopping down with bleach/disinfectant etc? I am and I’ve got to say it’s driving me insane but I know it would worry me if I didn’t?!

People that are ultra careful and wipe everything and hardly go out still get it so I take my chances and don't bother wiping or washing anything.

Never have. Just wash hands after unpacking and before/after preparing food, which I always have done anyway, even pre Covid.

If the chairman of Nervtag speaking to the BBC says it's not necessary, I'm ok with that!

I'd love to have the time to do such ridiculous tasks.
Even my mum hasn't done this and she has health anxiety and is shielding my youngest brother.
If you are I'd consider speaking to your GP as that's just not normal.
Why not just follow the advice and keep washing your hands 🤷‍♀️

If I thought I was at serious risk then I would do fridge and freezer stuff.

It's not crazy. It's minimising risk. But for most people it's not worth the bother.

Never have and never will. I don't quarantine anything either, for one thing I don't have the room to have parcels or shopping lying around for 72 hours.

We spoke about it at the beginning and I told DH if he wanted to wash shopping it was down to him, but don't expect any help from me!

Agreed @polkadotpixie you must be one of the most well informed people in the country about your status after all that! Well done for being part of the study.

According to the evidence (which arguably is in its infancy with Covid 19, especially taking into account new variants) formite transmission risk is minimal. However droplets can land on items from people coughing and sneezing on surfaces (i.e. in a supermarket setting). Items in the chillers in particular will be more likely to maintain the virus. If people wish to wipe down such items prior to these going into their own fridge I can understand the reasons why.

I don’t know why if someone bothers to do this other people are enraged. I’d rather wipe once then wash my hands 50 times a day because I’ve made 20 cups of tea or touched anything in my kitchen that’s just come from the shop. No we aren’t all manic stressed out germ phobics just wiping down a surface.

My mum did it for 9 months straight, even after being in close contact with Covid three times, isolating three times, didn't get it and was STILL wiping down her shopping, as my nan lives with my parents and is 94 and my dad was/is going through cancer treatment.

She stopped only recently as my nan has had both jabs, my dad has his first and his oncologist said his immune system is not compromised at the moment.

She had got into the habit but doesn't miss it at all - no shit! I thought it was quite irrational, seeing as she'd been in close contact with covid before which is a far, far higher risk than unlikely surface transmission on shopping!

supersonicginandtonic

I'd love to have the time to do such ridiculous tasks.
Even my mum hasn't done this and she has health anxiety and is shielding my youngest brother.
If you are I'd consider speaking to your GP as that's just not normal.
Why not just follow the advice and keep washing your hands 🤷‍♀️

We’re quite normal, thanks 😁 just CEV husband. Our GP said in March wouldn’t do any harm and could prove to do some good when more was known.

I’m glad your health is so good that you can afford to be derisive.

Can never understand why people are so snotty about something someone else does that affects them in no way whatsoever 🤷‍♀️

No, I am out at work still probably touching hundreds of boxes a day. Dp is also out at work, neither of us are able to WFH. I wash my hands regularly but not after every box I touch. I don't quarantine any shopping or deliveries, didn't in the first lockdown either. No time for that.

@DenisetheMenace if you read properly I also said my mum isn't even doing this and she is shielding my brother. He has Down syndrome and a very serious heart condition. She was told by his consultant it was a waste of time as there are lots of other thing coming into the house.
I think you're being rather hysterical and how on earth do you know what my health is like? I never mentioned my health.

yes, I am still wiping down shopping, have been doing it since March as I am in a vulnerable group. Still caught Covid though, from DH who has to go to work so a bit of a pointless exercise really but I cannot stop. I am now worrying that we might get a mutant strain.

@KarensNotMyName

I do, because Chris Whitby said it would be reasonable to do so.

It makes no sense when people say they just wash their hands after. By then you've already transferred the virus (if there was any) onto the fridge door, kitchen cupboard handles, surfaces etc. Meaning every time you get anything from the kitchen you now need to wash your hands. But by which time you've now transferred the virus to the mug and teaspoon you used, kettle handle and so on... Much easier to just wipe the groceries once and now you know your home is safe and you don't need to
keep washing your hands in your own home!

I agree with this. I much preferred the feeling of safety when I had wiped everything down and tbh if we didn't do such big shops or if someone was willing to help me I would still wipe things down but spending two hours wiping shopping and then ages showering was quite stressful.

I think it's now thought that the majority of people catch Covid from being in close proximity to someone who breathes (or coughs) close to them and spreads droplets rather than from hand to eye/mouth etc. (whereas with something like Norovirus then hand to mouth is the main form of transmission).

I also live somewhere with a relatively low rate (1 in 250 I think, rather than the 1 in 60 national average) so have been trying to rationalise that it's probably okay (not convincing myself really!).

My father is CEV and he and my mother are not wiping down shopping. Not everyone who is CEV considers it worthwhile or has the time to do it. I don’t see that it does any harm, but you have to perceive a worthwhile reduction in risk, particularly if you are a busy person, and many don’t

I thought I remembered Chris Whitty saying something about doing it.

@SlopesOff

The only shopping I wipe with bleach is the stuff that reeks of nasty perfume from the checkout person's hands. Or maybe the shelf stacker.

I just keep washing my hands when I am in and using 100% alcohol spray when I am out.

You sound kinda snobby? What on earth are u talking about. Most supermarket colleagues( l am one) are doing their level best to keep clean ... and alive

Definitely not, wouldn't even consider it. Don't know anyone who would do this including CEV. Just wash your hands.

I have never done any of this. I don't use hand sanitiser, either, as I am allergic to it.

I just wash my hands properly when I've been out - as I have been doing since forever and not because of Covid.

I have not caught Covid, and neither has anyone else in my family.

The only person I know who caught it was my 80 yr old dad, who did take all kinds of precautions. He felt unwell for a couple of days, and then recovered.

We did at first, but stopped last summer when levels fell and never started again. Shopping arrives about 9 am and most of it gets put away and isn't used for days, and I read that the virus was fragile and basically became very weak after about 7 hours.

However I've always used Dettox Surface Spray on all surfaces and handles in the kitchen after putting shopping away.

I dnt now but I use too

I still was trolley handles plus I try not to touch door handles etc when I'm at work

Did it during the first lockdown and now back to doing it again! Drives me mad but makes me feel a little better once it's all done!

supersonicginandtonic
I'd love to have the time to do such ridiculous tasks.
Even my mum hasn't done this and she has health anxiety and is shielding my youngest brother.
If you are I'd consider speaking to your GP as that's just not normal.
Why not just follow the advice and keep washing your hands 🤷‍♀️

And what's the GP going to do? Section me for not being 'normal'? 🙄

I’m CEV and during the first wave I received a letter from my GP surgery suggesting that I wipe shopping to reduce the chance of transmission via fomites, so guessing my GP would class it as “normal”. I still do it and it takes about 20 minutes. I’m not sure why so many people who don’t do it try to imply that those of us who do are either in an advanced state of paranoia or have too much time on our hands. I wouldn’t either think or say that those who don’t are reckless or lacking in time management skills! We all have different situations and different things which help us feel a little bit more in control during such a worrying time so why is there such a lot of sniping about this?

@Littleguggi no but he'd support uou
With the anxiety.