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 think this is not a covid requirement so much as a general sense that putting packaging into the fridge is mildly gross

And yet we’ve all been doing it all of our lives to no discernible ill effect. 🤷‍♀️

NewModelArmyMayhem18

Never saw the point.“

Nothing personal at all, seems nuts to me now, too, but this sort of comment is irritating.

Back in Feb/March 2020, still emotionally recovering from a very close call when we almost lost my CEV husband, there seemed every point. We were being told that this virus would almost certainly kill him. Not to step outside, answer the door, see our loved ones. We were told that it might come in by post.
It took me 20 minutes to wash the delivery and at the time gave us peace of mind during a very alarming period, so there was every point for me.
We know so much more now, we’re all vaccinated so all we need to do is wash our hands after we put it away.

I suspect lots of healthy people have no idea how terrified otherwise perfectly rational people were for several months.

Today, I wiped the mouthpiece on a takeaway coffee cup. The server had her fingers all over the rim and I didn't fancy putting it straight to my mouth

I did during the first lockdown we were spraying everything down with disinfectant when it came into the house. was also getting DH to strip at the door to put his clothes straight into the machine and get straight in the shower. We haven't done it since though.

@TheKeatingFive

I think this is not a covid requirement so much as a general sense that putting packaging into the fridge is mildly gross

And yet we’ve all been doing it all of our lives to no discernible ill effect. 🤷‍♀️

This. I've got to 46 with no ill effects. I've never eaten or licked the packaging so that may have helped!

@TheKeatingFive

I think this is not a covid requirement so much as a general sense that putting packaging into the fridge is mildly gross

And yet we’ve all been doing it all of our lives to no discernible ill effect. 🤷‍♀️

I literally don't do anything, never wiped shopping, don't wash my hands after putting shopping away. DS and I are hardly ever ill, we both had Covid recently and hardly suffered at all. People are so OTT on here, it's ridiculous.

Waxonwaxoff0

“DS and I are hardly ever ill, we both had Covid recently and hardly suffered at all. People are so OTT on here, it's ridiculous.”

Can completely understand why healthy people think it was all ridiculous. You are very fortunate to have good health.

Honestly though, with a CEV husband and all of the horrors we were being fed every day back in March 2020, it didn’t feel ridiculousat the time. We were terrified (by the Government).

I am CEV, and while I do understand why people felt the need to do this back in March 2020, in my own circumstances even then I had concerns for my and my family’s health and well-being that were higher up the list than the risks associated with catching covid from shopping. It would have taken me a great deal longer than 20 minutes, and it would have meant some other more important task with a greater positive impact on our wellbeing went undone.
I find the “if you are healthy then you wouldn’t understand” thing irritating, especially alongside implications that it’s such a quick and easy thing to do, so why wouldn’t you.
There was no way I could have prioritised or accommodated this.

Yes, I still wipe everything over with sanitiser. Doesn't take a minute and it means the things I put in my fridge and cupboards aren't covered in the germs from the hands of packers and shelf-fillers and checkout persons....
I also wear gloves as I push my trolley round the supermarket. Doesn't hurt anyone, gives me peace of mind.

Those that spray or wash are you not wprried that the bleach or anti bac might contaminate your food , I mean how do you wash certain things ?

@worriedatthemoment exactly! I would rather run the risk of having covid on my packaging than eat food covered in disinfectant! Back in the early days people were bathing fruit and veg in washing up liquid, some people really did lose their common sense and many never got it back!

@worriedatthemoment

Those that spray or wash are you not wprried that the bleach or anti bac might contaminate your food , I mean how do you wash certain things ?

I do all packaging, bottled water, jars, tins etc with anti bac wipes . I've always used vegetable wash for fruit and veg pre Covid so continued doing this. The bags the delivery arrives in goes straight in a bin bag and outside as soon as I've got everything away.

Antibac wipes and plastic bags all to landfill?

@SMBH

Antibac wipes and plastic bags all to landfill?

The wipes claim to have some sort of anti Covid ingredient so yes... (Flash you can get them via Amazon abd some supermarkets), bin bags for rubbish that goes in the bin yes?! What else does rubbish go in other than rubbish bags?

At the start of things, yes, I did wipe my shopping. Then one day I just thought “what the fuck am I doing?” and stopped. Felt far less anxious as a result.

https://www.ocado.com/products/flash-anti-bacterial-all-purpose-wipes-448244011?gclid=Cj0KCQjwv5uKBhD6ARIsAGv9a-wyCtPMoI0KOEUCnfeJlMVVJeBlcWL9Uk2zRPGRDaV9W5JzLU743dIaAnZGEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

(2 PACK) - Food Safe Veggie Wash - Concentrated | 500ml | 2 PACK - SUPER SAVER - SAVE MONEY https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012TTC8W2/ref=cmswwrcppapiglttfabcK94VV6AJJRP8N8KM84F4??encoding=UTF8&psc=1

www.hydro-x.co.uk/hxstore/product/disinfectant-spray/

www.savers.co.uk/Household/Cleaning-Products/Flash-Spray-Wipe-Done-Antibacterial-Spray-800ml/p/801111

These are what we are using for deliveries and all round the home for the time being...

I do all packaging, bottled water, jars, tins etc with anti bac wipes . I've always used vegetable wash for fruit and veg pre Covid so continued doing this. The bags the delivery arrives in goes straight in a bin bag and outside as soon as I've got everything away

Shockingly wasteful and negligent of environmental issues.

@DoubleShotEspresso they mean all goes to landfill etc so not exactly great for the planet

@DoubleShotEspresso washing tins are you not encouraging them to then rust ? Which could cause bigger risks I would personally think
I mean covid can't live on a ton in your cupboard for weeks ?
We have not washed a single thing from day one and not one if us has had covid so far ?? I do wash hands after handling post etc , but always have washed hands regularly as to me basic hygeine and also washed hands before eating etc
Lots of viruses you catch from air anyway so its just seems overkill to me
I get washing fruit/ veg as I wash that morr so to wash off any petisides or other bacteria rather than covid and also its mot being cooked

@AuntieMarys

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 😀

I don't blame her. What a controlling man.

I wash fruit and veg, but then I always did.

[quote worriedatthemoment]@DoubleShotEspresso washing tins are you not encouraging them to then rust ? Which could cause bigger risks I would personally think
I mean covid can't live on a ton in your cupboard for weeks ?
We have not washed a single thing from day one and not one if us has had covid so far ?? I do wash hands after handling post etc , but always have washed hands regularly as to me basic hygeine and also washed hands before eating etc
Lots of viruses you catch from air anyway so its just seems overkill to me
I get washing fruit/ veg as I wash that morr so to wash off any petisides or other bacteria rather than covid and also its mot being cooked[/quote]
I just use the wipes with the anti Covid spray then dry off with clean kitchen roll. They're dry before being put away in cupboards so highly doubt rust is an issue tbh.
And yes I've always used the vegetable wash for the reasons you stated.

@EdgeOfTheSky

I do all packaging, bottled water, jars, tins etc with anti bac wipes . I've always used vegetable wash for fruit and veg pre Covid so continued doing this. The bags the delivery arrives in goes straight in a bin bag and outside as soon as I've got everything away

Shockingly wasteful and negligent of environmental issues.

I'll accept its not ideal but equally there's not really an alternative. It does take a fair bit of time per delivery so this for now is our best method. For what it's worth we religiously recycle all the insane amount of boxes and packaging generated from grocery shopping and the never ending Amazon deliveries for all other supplies. Just trying my best to keep this thing away as im mindful once school return happens we are again at further risk. If I can at least cover all other bases at least I know I've done all that's possible within our home.

@AnnieSnap

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!

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

yes, this is my thinking. Especially, as you say, Tesco (and others) no longer use bags or tray liners (I do agree with the environment aspect of this) and those trays have been found to have very high salmonella/e coli levels pre-pandemic, when all we had to worry about was food poisoning.

I just give everything a very quick wipe with a anti-microbial wipe (e.g. Dettol), no big deal.

I can't get it out of my head that Tom Hanks caught a much less transmissible variant of Covid (alpha) from being in a hotel room previously occupied by someone who had Covid, so even though this case must have involved huge viral load on surfaces (though these were presumably already wiped down in the bathroom etc), fomite transmission does exist.

Plus I'm not very keen on norovirus either, which is definitely high-fomite transmission.

And as for the fact that we have a lot of exposure to covid, noro etc everywhere else in life, that is actually the point of reducing the risk where we can.
We have high-exposure jobs and DC in school.
So no need to add more risk on top. Since we are not resigned to getting Covid, we reduce risk where we can (make sure none comes into house on items, don't go inside other people's houses etc). It is not all or nothing.
Plus, no big deal, a couple of dettol wipes and few minutes. We grow a lot of our fruit and veg so can offset a couple of wipes against much less environmental damage of pesticides, transport, packaging etc.

Some of these posts are a bit reminiscent of people in the medieval period flagellating themselves and avoiding sleeping in the day etc, in an effort to avoid plague.

IMO the risks (to mental health, environmental reasons etc) far outweigh any possible benefits and just aren't reasonable measures. Quarantining post? It reminds me of frantically sterilising all my DC's bottles for exactly 13 minutes, while they crawled around licking chair legs or trying to eat the soil from plant pots etc.

(I do have skin in the game of worrying about the consequences more due to being CEV, but I see that as more of a reason to keep things in proportion. Mental health is just as important as physical health. And all the wipes in landfill etc!