If you washed your shopping are you still doing so?

[HJ40]

Not looking for a pile on from those who never did because there are plenty of those threads already.

I chose to dunk everything in Milton because back at the start of covid, so much was unknown. I was pregnant and scared. DH & I were able to work from home and our DC1 was at home when nursery was closed. We were perfectly, totally, isolated so it made sense to wash the shopping as our only possible point of exposure.

And then the habit has stuck because it's actually no hassle and better to be on the safe side.

But more than a a year on, DC1 has been back at nursery every day for 14months now and DC2 is about to start. We're going out and about, albeit cautiously, but fairly normally. DH & I are AZ double jabbed but too young for the booster. DH will soon have to return to commuting by train at least two days per week and I will be going back into my office.

I'm wondering if the time has come to stop? Given all our other potential contact points, shopping seems pretty low down the risk list.

I'm wondering if the time has come to stop?

Of course. Fomite transmission has been thoroughly debunked as major spreader of disease, it transmits via air.

Gosh yes we did it at the start of things but it didn't last long, evidence emerged pretty quickly that it's airborne transmission that's the problem and not surfaces.

We have sprayed anti bac on shopping, deliveries etc at all times during the pandemic. We have now all got covid so no longer see the point and have stopped doing it
I think surface transmission is a very low risk?

You don't get it from your shopping, time to stop.

Lol. It’s obviously time to stop, it was a long time ago. Surface transmission is shown to be extremely rare!

You main source is gona be nursery. There’ll be kids in nursery with positive family members at home since August..

I did it last year in the first lockdown but have stopped now. I don't think I am likely to catch it from surfaces like this

I'd like to see the actual research study data. Can anyone share that?

I still spray shopping down- yes.

Stopped - what’s the point if you can’t isolate and you’re not going to catch it from the shopping

I said I would carry on, but haven't for a few months now.

We get a weekly grocery delivery, did all throughout the pandemic (it was a recurring slot we had before the pandemic)

We started washing out shopping right at the start and have done it every week since.
We use a bowl of hot soapy water with antibacterial soap and just give everything a wash and a dry before putting it away.

At first it was just because of the cross contamination covid risk…
but once we saw the colour of the water after washing and realised how bloody filthy food packaging it became a second reason to do it.

It doesn’t take us long and I feel like it’s a good thing to do so it’s something I think we will continue to do indefinitely.

I was cleaning shopping as I too was pregnant and scared but I stopped after around 7 months of doing so.

Time to stop x

It only takes a few minutes, and better to be safe than sorry.

I wash fruit and veg anyway and take things out of packets, but I come from a hotter climate where you usually shop at street markets, so it’s normal for me.

We are definitely at the cautious end of the scale Covid-wise. At the start of the pandemic we washed/quarantined shopping. Gradually became less careful. Haven't been doing so at all for months. The one thing I do still do is wash my hands when I've been handling shopping that has only just come into the house.

I’m genuinely impressed that you have managed to keep this up as a task with a baby and toddler - my children are similar ages and there is no way I could have fitted this in to all the stuff I have to do. It wouldn’t take me “just a few minutes”, it would take bloody ages with sopping shopping everywhere.

Not sure why people were or are using antibac for this. Covid is a virus not bacteria. Flash do some household wipes that are anti-corona virus if wiping down still wanted.

Despite what some posters here are saying, there is good evidence that the Covid virus can live on cardboard and paper for 24 hours and on plastic for up to 72. It can be picked up on hands and transferred to the face. The risk is small, but real, so yes. I wash or sanitise anything that has to be immediately put away (fridge, freezer) and leave other items until they have passed the relevant time period. No doubt some MNs will take the piss, but each to our own!

When you see how flu germs spread onto handles, banisters, anything touched by hands that haven’t been washed properly, why do people think that coronavirus germs do not spread like this too? Yes still cleaning antrhing brought into the house because I do not know who has touched things recently. Better safe than sorry. Same with masks

My dad is still washing the shopping delivery.
But he does not wash the additional food he now buys in supermarket.
Hmmm.

No piss-taking from me. It’s not that I don’t believe there is a risk - obviously there is - it’s just that for my situation, the reduction in risk is too small to be worth the effort involved, especially as hands are washed routinely and when food handling, fruit and veg washed before eating or cooking, and so on. Obviously for some the effort is worth the risk reduction.

@HyacynthBucket

Not sure why people were or are using antibac for this. Covid is a virus not bacteria. Flash do some household wipes that are anti-corona virus if wiping down still wanted.

Dipping in Milton kills viruses.

Fomite transmission is low risk, but it's not no risk.

One risk being greater (nursery/working/whatever) does not change how much of a risk something else is. (Sky diving doesn't get any less risky because you also ski off piste).

Cold water & washing up liquid is effective, you don't need to be using miltons (I did originally too) but just do what is easier for you.

I am CEV. I virtually shielded for 18 months until I had an accident & ended up in hospital & having major surgery, resulting in a 2 week stay & assistance at home until I gained some mobility. One leg & 1 arm out of use, I couldn't manage to wash the shopping - it was all I could do to get the shopping into the fridge. (Tesco were brilliant and out it on my kitchen worktop) Once I had the house back to myself and a bit of mobility I started wiping down the things that go in the fridge & started quarantining the things that don't again, but as it was summer & Covid numbers were lower, I was less fastidious. I've started being more thorough again as numbers have climbed. I'm in such a good routine, it really doesn't take long & as Tesco no longer deliver in bags or tray liners, I prefer to wash it before it goes in my fridge anyway.

Given how long it can last on plastic & cardboard etc, just putting it away then washing your hands doesn't eliminate the risk enough for my liking.

I'm not sure how I'd feel if I wasn't CEV though.

@HyacynthBucket

Not sure why people were or are using antibac for this. Covid is a virus not bacteria. Flash do some household wipes that are anti-corona virus if wiping down still wanted.

If anti bac is a certain percentage alcohol then it kills viruses too

@AnnieSnap just out of interest wouldn't it going into the freezer kill anything anyway?

I wash fresh foods before we eat them, things in multipacks I take the outer packaging off, anything else bread, cereal pasta etc just goes in the cupboard as normal.