Help keep you and your family safe.  Although it is much more likely to catch Covid from person-to-person contact, the virus can still live on surfaces.  To date, there have not been any studies that show people can get infected from surfaces.  On the Center for Disease Control website, they have a page dedicated to how to clean areas for Covid-191.

Online vs. In-Person

Before leaving the house for the grocery store, consider ordering online if you live in an area where that service is provided.  In many areas there are delays in delivery, so it is important to check how soon you can have your supplies delivered.  Consider ordering from local stores and please make sure to tip your delivery person and/or personal shopper.  You can even tip them online!  Some places offer ‘leave at door’ delivery, or you can write it in as a request.  Having food delivered to your door helps to stop over-crowding at stores and limits your personal exposure.  By ordering online you can limit your chances of infection.

 

Prepare Area for Groceries

Create a dedicated space, hopefully with an empty sink, where you can easily clean up after bringing in groceries.  You can clear plenty of space on a countertop or the floor, so long as you wash and disinfect the surfaces used afterwards.  If you have a garage, one idea is that you lay down cardboard on the floor and place any groceries on that. Prepare enough space in your trunk for the groceries and consider bringing your own washable, reusable bags to the store.

At the Store

Only one member of the family should go to the store at a time and higher at-risk groups should stay home.  Certain stores have special hours for the elderly, so check online before you go.  Sometimes more than one person has to go (ex. if you have small children), so try to limit the amount of items touched.  According to Rachel Graham, a virologist at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, you can skip the gloves unless you know how to properly use and remove them2.  A home-made cloth mask or even a scarf3 can help protect you compared to going bare-faced.  At this time, there is a greater need for more professional masks to be used by caregivers and hospital staff, so wearing a home-made cloth mask is a viable alternative.  You can even make masks with a filter or without sewing4.

Bring a list and have a plan so you can move quickly.  While in the store, continue to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from other people as much as possible.  Many stores have disinfecting wipes for carts and/or hand sanitizer available but it’s a good idea to bring your own, just in case. 

Wash Groceries

According to microbiologist and expert on food safety from Rutgers University, Donald Schaffner5, it is not necessary to disinfect all of the individual boxes and bags.  However, it is important to wash your hands before eating any food.  It is still advisable to wash fresh produce only with water for about 20 seconds.  For cans and boxes of food it is possible to wipe or wash them before storage6.  For non-perishable foods that can stay out longer, you can simply leave them out for 72 hours (which is the amount of time the virus was still detected on some surfaces as stated in this New England Journal of Medicine letter7).

Clothing Concerns

A study from Wuhan China found that there was a high positive rate for Covid-19 from the floor of general wards even though they didn’t have patients with the virus.  They found that half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive for the virus8 and concluded that shoes can be carriers.  After going to a crowded area, such as a grocery store, change your shoes once you get back home.  You can wash the outside of your shoes or leave them out for 72 hours.  Be sure to wash your hands for the recommended 20 seconds with soap and water.  As a precaution, it would be a good idea to put whatever clothes you wore to the supermarket in the wash along with any reusable bags you brought with you to the store.

Sources:

  1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cleaning-disinfection.html
  2. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/12/832269202/no-you-dont-need-to-disinfect-your-groceries-but-here-s-to-shop-safely
  3. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/31/824911705/fact-check-should-people-cover-their-faces-with-scarves-like-trump-said
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html
  5. https://www.sciencealert.com/food-safety-expert-explains-how-to-safely-deal-with-groceries-during-the-pandemic
  6. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/worried-about-contaminated-groceries-how-to-be-safe#Cleaning-your-groceries-at-home
  7. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
  8. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0885_article

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