Hygiene at supermarkets during Coronavirus epidemic

[JSpencer]

Maybe a bit fanatic but I wash hands thoroughly before leaving home to get the shopping, then hydrogel before entering the shop (so if I have it, it won't be on my hands to transfer it) and then hydrogel after coming out the shop, and finally washing hands again when I get home (keeping contact with anything else to minimum, cleaning them door handles that cannot be opened with my elbow).

 

Shopping items themselves are a bit of a different matter. Most will stay in a cellar for at least 2 days (it is humid which the virus does not like). Frozen stuff with plastic gets a wash over before going into the freezer. 

Parcels and letters are open outside. One hand to throw envelopes/packaging directly into the recycling bin the other to take items down to the cellar. 

The risk from all these is probably zero, but after reading that the virus survived on surfaces (doubtless hard surfaces) on the Princess Diamond 17 days after people left the ship. I stepped up precautions especially as I do shopping for my in laws both over 70 years old.

 

Masks, I have one FFP2 for allergies. I wear this only before entering a place with other people (like a shop), keep the visit short as possible (max 20 minutes) and remove it once I am clear of people outside (and after applying hydrogel to my hands). And won't wear it again for at least a good few days after. The max number of times I go out per week is twice.

Edited April 8, 2020 by JSpencer

[Baby Deltic]

I have two masks I use when out and about. Once one gets a bit soggy I spay it both sides with alcohol and hang it up to dry in the car whilst I wear the dry one.

[Baby Deltic]

[Reorte]

36 minutes ago, Baby Deltic said:

I have two masks I use when out and about. Once one gets a bit soggy I spay it both sides with alcohol and hang it up to dry in the car whilst I wear the dry one.

Better hope the police don't stop you with something hanging up in your car reeking of alcohol that's been over your mouth!

[Baby Deltic]

45 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Better hope the police don't stop you with something hanging up in your car reeking of alcohol that's been over your mouth!

Hic!......Sorry Ocifer?......Hic!

[Nick C]

3 hours ago, JSpencer said:

Most will stay in a cellar for at least 2 days (it is humid which the virus does not like).

 

The official WHO advice says that humidity alone doesn't have any effect on it - hot, very humid weather may reduce transmission, but that's more down to droplets of sweat and breath not hanging in the air (as the air is already saturated with moisture, so can't hold any more)

[JSpencer]

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

 

The official WHO advice says that humidity alone doesn't have any effect on it - hot, very humid weather may reduce transmission, but that's more down to droplets of sweat and breath not hanging in the air (as the air is already saturated with moisture, so can't hold any more)

 

Unfortunately, "hot and humid" is not possible with most foods and even dangerous with some. That which does not require a fridge or freezer gets stuck in the cellar first, a place most people in the family won't go and a place conceived to conserve food and drink. It is rotated upstairs 48 hours or more later as stuff in the kitchen is consumed. They seem to think the virus will be largely dead by that time. In anycase, I wash hands after throwing away the packet, while heat from cooking (even 70 degrees for 4 minutes in an oven) will kill it. 

 

There was some daft advice of leaving it outdoors in the sun for 3 hours, a great way to create food poisoning or at least melted chocolate!

[Nick C]

18 minutes ago, JSpencer said:

 

Unfortunately, "hot and humid" is not possible with most foods and even dangerous with some. That which does not require a fridge or freezer gets stuck in the cellar first, a place most people in the family won't go and a place conceived to conserve food and drink. It is rotated upstairs 48 hours or more later as stuff in the kitchen is consumed. They seem to think the virus will be largely dead by that time. In anycase, I wash hands after throwing away the packet, while heat from cooking (even 70 degrees for 4 minutes in an oven) will kill it. 

 

There was some daft advice of leaving it outdoors in the sun for 3 hours, a great way to create food poisoning or at least melted chocolate!

Agreed, it was your comment that the virus doesn't like humidity that I was questioning. Cleaning or disposing of the outer packaging is the best way to get rid of it...

[Butler Henderson]

Seem to be inconsistencies with what stores are doing with cleaning with some people reporting their Aldi and Sainsburys for example cleaning trolleys before passing them to customers while others are saying its left to the customer. Seems they are leaving it to the discretion of the store manager, I am getting emails from a number of them and it seems Asda are clearly in the DIY camp, a quite appalling attitude. If they are controlling access then it is quite simple for the person doing that to wipe a trolley handle and pass it to the customer. None of them have in any emails made any reference to cleaning of self service tills after they have been used, something which could easily be carried out by a watching staff member nor whether any such tills have been withdrawn from use to maintain the 2m separation,  nor whether hand scanners are being cleaned when they are place back in the rack for customers to use. Also absent from their explanations of how brilliant they are is any reference to fridge or freezer doors being cleaned at any particular regular interval.

[Matt C]

Our Tescos has a member of staff constantly clearing trolleys from the car park and sanitizing them so no customers can inadvertently pick one up when first parking. You then have one staff member spraying customers hands and then another member of staff inside the doors in gloves directing you to a sanitized trolly or basket.  At the checkout all are wearing gloves and keeping contact with customers cards etc to an absolute minimum. At the self service tills every other one is closed off to keep distancing and a member of staff directs you to an empty machine, removes and sanitizes the basket once you move on and sanitizes screen and surfaces you may have touched. You then exit by a separate exit. Very well organized and apart from strong white flour and yeast, no shortages on the shelves that I could see although less variety than their used to be

[Baby Deltic]

[Nearholmer]

Was just having a (suitably distanced) chat with the guy who delivers for Amazon and other parcel services locally, his van being stacked full.

 

He says that it’s all ‘non essentials’, mostly women’s fashion shoes and clothes, and that he’s working 15hrs/day to deliver things that people won’t get a chance to wear “for months” (his is not optimistic about an early finish to lockdown!).

[Baby Deltic]

16 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Was just having a (suitably distanced) chat with the guy who delivers for Amazon and other parcel services locally, his van being stacked full.

 

He says that it’s all ‘non essentials’, mostly women’s fashion shoes and clothes, and that he’s working 15hrs/day to deliver things that people won’t get a chance to wear “for months” (his is not optimistic about an early finish to lockdown!).

Sounds like boredom causing 'comfort spending' just like us buying model trains we probably don't really need, but we get a 'hit' when they arrive.

[Jol Wilkinson]

On 11/04/2020 at 11:27, Nearholmer said:

Was just having a (suitably distanced) chat with the guy who delivers for Amazon and other parcel services locally, his van being stacked full.

 

He says that it’s all ‘non essentials’, mostly women’s fashion shoes and clothes, and that he’s working 15hrs/day to deliver things that people won’t get a chance to wear “for months” (his is not optimistic about an early finish to lockdown!).

My wife went to the local SPAR yesterday and bought her regular copy of the Fail on Sunday. The enclosed magazine fro the young, dynamic, and fashionable woman is following its regular format of what wear to look good and where to buy it. I have a poor opinion of journalists at the best of times but this makes me despair for the future of womankind.

[Nearholmer]

The Railway Modeller carried all its usual ads and other encouragements to buy stuff this month too.

 

But then, aren’t we supposed to be “consuming”, to keep the economy moving and people in gainful employ?

 

My previous post wasn’t intended to criticise women for buying shoes and clothes, merely to observe, and maybe scratch my head a bit.

 

However, I have to say that buying marginally-essential stuff  feels wrong right now ....... frivolous in a time of seriousness perhaps. 

 

 

[Jol Wilkinson]

58 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

The Railway Modeller carried all its usual ads and other encouragements to buy stuff this month too.

 

But then, aren’t we supposed to be “consuming”, to keep the economy moving and people in gainful employ?

 

 

Whose economy, the Chinese?

[AY Mod]

1 hour ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Whose economy, the Chinese?

 

You shouldn't be out riding your hobby horse unnecessarily at present. We have been told 'no unnecessary journeys'.

[Andy Hayter]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The Railway Modeller carried all its usual ads and other encouragements to buy stuff this month too.

 

…………………...

 

However, I have to say that buying marginally-essential stuff  feels wrong right now ....... frivolous in a time of seriousness perhaps. 

 

 

 

I would have thought that the RM on sale today was laid out - and adverts paid for - before the lock down.  I note Andy Y saying that they have copy for layouts pretty much to the end of the year.

 

As for essential and frivolous things, it really depends on the individual.  I heard of a Gendarme castigating someone in one of their checks for having bought (along with other things) a multi-pack of chocolate sweets.  He was put in his place when told that one of the family was diabetic and had unstable blood sugar levels and the sweets were to correct sudden drops in blood sugar.

 

As for other frivolous items, many are now beginning to show signs of the lockdown inducing depression and if a frivolous purchase helps to reverse that, then who am I to judge.  I have done enough of that myself a model railway shows - and have the stack of unbuilt kits to prove the point.

 

[Jol Wilkinson]

16 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

You shouldn't be out riding your hobby horse unnecessarily at present. We have been told 'no unnecessary journeys'.

Now we have moved to Felixstowe we see quite few containers ships making "unnecessary journeys".

[Nearholmer]

Andy

 

I think it must be a sign of the times that observations get taken as criticisms: for clarity, I am not seeking to criticise the RM, any more than I am criticising women for buying shoes. If anything, I was taking a slight pop at Jol for criticising women.

 

And, when I talk about something feeling wrong, Im expressing a feeling; I genuinely do have a sensation that frivolous purchasing is out of match with the spirit of the times. Again, I’m not telling people what they should or shouldn’t buy, simply “sensing something in the air”, which a number of coppers have also clearly sensed, because they got it all wrong and thought it was against the law to buy unnecessary things.

 

Kevin

[woodenhead]

2 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

The Railway Modeller carried all its usual ads and other encouragements to buy stuff this month too.

 

But then, aren’t we supposed to be “consuming”, to keep the economy moving and people in gainful employ?

 

My previous post wasn’t intended to criticise women for buying shoes and clothes, merely to observe, and maybe scratch my head a bit.

 

However, I have to say that buying marginally-essential stuff  feels wrong right now ....... frivolous in a time of seriousness perhaps. 

 

 

We still need basics though, my walking boots, that I wear for everything, are wearing down at the heel but I can wait a few weeks.  Youngest though works in a supermarket, needs stout shoes as there is a fair bit of walking involved commuting and working.

[Reorte]

1 minute ago, Nearholmer said:

And, when I talk about something feeling wrong, Im expressing a feeling; I genuinely do have a sensation that frivolous purchasing is out of match with the spirit of the times. Again, I’m not telling people what they should or shouldn’t buy, simply “sensing something in the air”, which a number of coppers have also clearly sensed, because they got it all wrong and thought it was against the law to buy unnecessary things.

I suppose it does but it shouldn't. The thing is to just not go overboard with "unnecessary" stuff. It's pretty obvious that people need some things to keep their spirits up.

[woodenhead]

2 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

And, when I talk about something feeling wrong, Im expressing a feeling; I genuinely do have a sensation that frivolous purchasing is out of match with the spirit of the times. Again, I’m not telling people what they should or shouldn’t buy, simply “sensing something in the air”, which a number of coppers have also clearly sensed, because they got it all wrong and thought it was against the law to buy unnecessary things.

The police interpret what the Government asks of them, I think they didn't get it wrong, it's just factions within Government giving different messages.  One of them doesn't want to be seen as unpopular as perhaps that person has previously attracted unwanted attention last time round in a cabinet role and doesn't want to be seen as a bad guy again.

 

THe Government has asked everyone to stay home and not make unnecessary journeys - the police interpreted that and then get castigated when challenging people for being miles from home with no reason other than they wanted to walk their dog.

 

I know of a fitness fanatic that appears to have been outed by people who know him because his Strava data was shared with a national newspaper and he was cycling for 7+ hours at a time covering distances of about 150 miles a day.  Tell me that was a necessary journey and that the police shouldn't be speaking to him.  It cannot be one rule for some and another for others, which is why the Scottish Chief Medical officer had to resign last week.

[AY Mod]

It's just my view that if something can legally be sold, can be supplied safely and actually used I think it passed my personal reasonableness test. On the fashion aspect, regardless of gender, I think it's difficult to justify due to the lack of opportunity for use (aside from work and home clothing) and it fails the safe supply angle to a degree when considering how much gets tried on and returned straight away (especially those who selfie it for their social media exposure). I know that is hypocritical valuing the fashion industry of lower value (to me) than the hobby industry but...

[JohnR]

Has anyone else found that more people are wearing face masks now - and it seems to be making them feel "invulnerable" and avoiding social distancing in the shops?