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.

Some viruses survive better in colder temperatures than at room temperature.

HJ40 - it kind of sounds to me as though you find it reassuring to wash the shopping, and I think that's probably really fine, if it helps you to cope with the stresses that we are all under just now. Equally, I think it's probably fine to stop, if you want to, given that you have so many other routes of transmission coming into your house.

It might be hard to get out of the habit, as routine is an incredibly powerful source of reassurance. If you do want to stop, maybe you could cut down to just washing in plain water, then just the fruit and veg, or something. But ther's no rush.

I know that I also worry about bugs (not just covid), and have certain things that I do that are probably just rituals to reassure myself, and I think that's actually probably okay, as long as it's not stopping me doing other things that I want to do.

Equally there were daft things that I did for years, that I know caused me to catch a lot of bugs. I mean things like stroking my toddler's head after taking my hand off the escalator handrail in an airport, and then kissing the top of his head later in the day. If you want a way to catch something nasty, then I can tell you from experience that that will definitely do it.

I still catch millions of viruses unfortunately. I've had covid twice.

If you're having your shopping delivered from a supermarket then you should certainly we cleaning it where possible - nothing to do with covid just those trays they use are filthy

https://www.biomasterprotected.com/news/bbc-investigation-discovers-unhygienic-delivery-crates-from-a-major-retailer

The covid risk is low in my opinion though

I don't think this level of anxiety now is normal. You must know that you are more likely to catch it from your dc who is at nursery or just going out .

Unless there are some serious underlying health conditions , in which case having dc in nursery is the main concern then just stop with the washing.

I can't believe people are still doing this.

@Elouera

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

I still spray shopping down- yes.

There are various sources - the CDC links to several primary sources in this article to evidence this statement:

Findings of these studies suggest that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection via the fomite transmission route is low, and generally less than 1 in 10,000, which means that each contact with a contaminated surface has less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of causing an infection.

I’m CEV, but I couldn’t shield beyond only a short period of time due to my circumstances, so I don’t know what that’s like. Washing shopping was still low down my list of priorities compared to other activities I have to do, which again just reflects my circumstances, and where I perceive my efforts to be best placed in terms of reductions in risks.

I’m still wiping my shopping with antivirals. Still decontaminating post for 24 hours before opening.

Won’t do any harm. It’d be just like the thing that I’d be the one in a gazillion that gets it from my loaf packaging or a letter someone sent me they’d sneezed near and unknowingly contaminated it or something.

Don’t give a flying fox if anyone thinks I’m bonkers. I’ve enough medical issues without long covid.

@Mangofandangoo

If you're having your shopping delivered from a supermarket then you should certainly we cleaning it where possible - nothing to do with covid just those trays they use are filthy

[[https://www.biomasterprotected.com/news/bbc-investigation-discovers-unhygienic-delivery-crates-from-a-major-retailer]]

The covid risk is low in my opinion though

The recommendations for that are

“ - Wash fresh fruit and vegetables before use

• Store raw meat and poultry at the bottom of the fridge away from ready to eat foods
• Remember to clean and disinfect after preparing raw meat and poultry ensuring you wash your hands too”

Which most people who have a basic level of understanding of food hygiene were doing before covid, whether they had their shopping delivered or got it themselves from the supermarket.

Yes I still wash down the (washable) shopping after each weekly delivery. My DP and I just felt it's good to do so hygiene-wise, as we know everything we put into the fridge has been cleaned and or removed from outer packaging. It's become a habit now and doesn't take long at all.

You say dc 1 has been back at nursery for 14 months though. So wasn't off for very long at all

I totally understand being frightened in the beginning, I was too ! Especially when you were pg .

We managed to avoid covid until April when my 10 year old caught it .

I caught it when double jabbed in June from a friend who was cv and had just gone back to work

My 18 year old caught it about a month ago going into school to collect his A level results .

We didn't isolate from each other but didn't pass it on as house hold contacts and we've all had covid pretty mildly

Lock down has been awful. It's affected my mh as well as my 10 year olds

Your dc are so little and it was all so scary in the beginning. Do you think maybe you should talk to your gp? It could be a form of pnd . We've had 18 months of pandemic and isolation that has never happened before it's bound to have an affect on all of us to some extent, especially those who have given birth x

Yes I still wash or wipe down shopping, I just can’t get out of the habit, however I am so much faster and less thorough now. My hands are been washed gazillion times in the last year and have aged considerably.

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 chances of the virus surviving a transfer to your face are absolutely tiny.

Absolutely not. Despite DH being CV. Stopped quite a while ago. However we mask everywhere that is not a park or open air.

Seems bloody bonkers to me. I just practise basic food hygiene.

We stopped a few months ago and it's so much easier and quicker putting it away now

Surely if you can catch Covid this way then all the supermarket workers and delivery people would have been dropping like flies? It's an airborne virus.

I wouldn't bother if you're going to work and using public transport, I caught Covid at work.

No I never did.
My friends dh still does...and quarantines post, parcels. He wears masks in the house and she is not allowed to go to the shops/ cafes.
She has just filed for divorce 😀

yes, wipe with disinfectant.
i also used to do this, but became lazy a few yeas ago.
started doing it again at the beginning of last year.
will continue.
many people are not hygienic, hardly wash their hands after using loo.
don't want that coming in my fridge.

@cantbeforeal

We stopped a few months ago and it's so much easier and quicker putting it away now

This

Oh no lol. Who has time for that

I never thought to do this and I should have. But - that awful word - my shopping comes over from a larger place where there has been almost no covid . And only every two weeks and in often open boxes on the Atlantic ferry.. I should have as I am in what will be permanent isolation. with no immune system
well done all who are taking such great care.

I used to but I have now stopped.

Although, I'm still kn the habit of popping new items in the salad drawer and they sit there for a couple of days before use.

Dear God, is this what the world has come to?