COVID-19 can live on the surface of objects for hours to days.
The objects you buy in a supermarket have been handled by one or more people: the shelf stocker for sure, and probably other shoppers.
At home, keep the kitchen sink (or a container) full of cold water. Add a cap full of Dettol. Every item that comes through your front door should either go into that water for a short time, or be wiped down with disinfectant if that isn’t possible. Personally, I don’t rinse it off again.
I would never normally cross-post, but I did post this on British Lung Foundation and am posting it here too.
Written by
golden-retriever
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Only used washing up liquid if you rinse with running water that immediately flows down the plug hole, and not in a sink full of water as stated above . Otherwise, you will actually spread any potential virus to all items that go in that water.
That is probably what I would do.......but it is said that soap removes the fatty surface of the virus, thus killing it. Thus better than disinfectant, though that is better than nothing.. I I am wrong then there is something I have not understood.
Lynneypin, a lot of people here have serious asthma and being ‘less likely’ to catch it from their virus infected shopping than from someone sneezing in their face is still a very bad outcome.
Unfortunately, many people here need to be extremely careful. This is not a rehearsal. There may be no second chances. “Don’t stress” may sound like good, sensible advice but in this case it doesn’t help anybody here.
Disinfecting shopping is a the sensible thing to do and isn’t actually very difficult.
Sure, but that doesn’t change what I said. And the article you posted below could already be out of date, or be out of date tomorrow. A week is an eternity in this pandemic.
Currently governments and health services across the world, and the WHO, are begging people to do everything they possibly can to stay well and reduce the risk, and to reduce the burden on hospitals.
DO YOU NEED TO WASH YOUR GROCERIES WHEN YOU GET HOME?
Ben Chapman, a professor and food safety expert at N.C. State University, says that washing or cleaning our groceries when we return home from a store really isn’t necessary, since food and food packaging has not been identified as a risk factor, according to available research.
“I don’t think right now that washing or trying to sanitize a cereal box is an effective way to stop the pathway of the transmission of COVID-19,” Chapman told The News & Observer on Tuesday.
The first and last defense, he says, is hand-washing and hand-sanitizing.
“When I grab my cereal box and fill my bowl and put the box away, I wash my hands,” he said.
And as far as washing fruits and vegetables before consuming, that’s something that has always been recommended, he said.
Even so, if people feel better cleaning their groceries when they get home, it’s fine to do it.
“It’s not gonna hurt, especially in this time of anxiety,” he said. “If it makes someone feel better to wash them, they they should do that.”
The real shopping risk?
“Being around people who are experiencing symptoms. That’s Number 1 at the top with a bullet,” Chapman said.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Your Choice word game
Not sure what to do
