Watch a doctor demonstrate how to safely bring groceries home during the coronavirus crisis

[orleans]

"With the coronavirus spreading rapidly, even something as simple as bringing a canned good into your home with the virus could end up setting your family back. You don’t know who handled that item before you or whether they have COVID-19, therefore we must take extraordinary measures to protect ourselves.

"Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen created a video to demonstrate the steps we should all be taking to protect ourselves from getting this disease. This may seem like over-the-top advice, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

video at link

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/25/1931140/-Watch-a-doctor-demonstrate-how-to-safely-bring-groceries-home-during-the-coronavirus-crisis

[Grasswire2]

1. I watched this last night.

It's interesting. I did think about the fact that he sanitized the plastic wrap surrounding the broccoli head but someone had touched that broccoli previously.

I have a sanitizing station set up outside the door on my potting shelf. Big tupperware bowl of very mild bleach solution. Dispenser of anti-bacterial hand soap. Box of baby wipes. Newspapers for setting down cleaned items. Waste basket for throwing away wrappers. Preferably, things stay outside for hours before coming in the apartment.

[unblock]

2. he did say that the virus doesn't do well on food itself

that said, if you cook your food hot enough, that should take care of it.

more of a problem if you're eating room temperature fruits or veggies.

we're trying to avoid that sort of thing, mostly having hot meals where it involves fresh produce.

[Grasswire2]

6. I'm going to mix up a produce rinse.

I see lots of recipes for it online.

Celery, parsley, apples..... staples for me. But who has handled them before me, in the store?

[unblock]

3. he's not really great about his hands

his hands should be considered contaminated as soon as they touch the groceries, but he's wiping things down, then using contaminated hands to place the wiped item on the clean side.

pouring things out is better.

better still is to have a helper with clean hands. one person wipes and sprays and cleans and opens packaging, and the clean hands person only touches inside and cleaned items.

obviously not everyone has a helper available....

[Grasswire2]

7. good point

He's trained in sterile technique.

I have seen doctors and nurses in clinic whose sterile technique stinks.

[dem4decades]

4. We're fucked.

[Igel]

5. Only if it's easy to be infected by the virus on surfaces.

That hasn't been determined, except to say it's a very low risk.

It's been a few days, but nobody was claiming *any* cases from surface contact then. There was a cruise ship that was infected, twice, but nobody did more than let the inference hang that the second batch of COVID folk caught it from the ship. No backtracking, somebody could easily have brought it onboard twice, and the ship was involved in two instances through dumb luck. Coincidences are less likely, but "less likely" is far from "can't happen."

On the other hand, if videos started with that, they'd basically start off by saying, "You know, there's no reason to be much worried or even concerned about this, but please watch anyway."