Are you seeing a decrease in sanitation efforts in your area?

[randumb0]

Has anyone noticed a decrease in sanitation efforts in your area? Two years ago all businesses talked about was how they've increased their cleaning efforts. My local grocery store had someone dedicated to wiping down shopping carts and they had wipes you could use. Being the germaphobe I am even before covid I thought it was great.

Now? I was at Universal last week and they had empty hand sanitizer dispensers. Do they still wipe down air plane seats after every flight? Things are back to the old at my grocery store as well. Yes things have more normalized since the start of covid, but people are still dirty. It was nice while it lasted. It's all a bit disappointing.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Grocery stores in my area stopped having their employees wiping down carts a long time ago. But the still make available disposable wipes to clean carts on your own. Sometimes they run out but I always have some in my purse, hand sanitizer too. At the checkout, the clerks would wipe down the moving belt in between customers but rarely do now. At Costco and Target, it's the same, they provide wipes (no longer doing it ).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was at Universal last week and they had empty hand sanitizer dispensers.

To be fair we found that at Disney. I actually had a survey they sent me about my experience at MK on the 9th but that was one of the questions. I think both WDW and USO seemed to have enough of them out but refilling them..eh..I think they try but they don't get them as much as they probably could.

Do they still wipe down air plane seats after every flight?

TBH I think they stopped that quite a while ago

 

[EACarlson]

I think the sanitation theater has dialed back to the same level it was in 2019. I flew in 2020 and 2021, no way was that airplane "sanitized" between flights, turn times are too tight. Even if it only takes 10 seconds per seat that is still 58 minutes for a 737-800. Most airlines are running 45-60 minutes between scheduled gate arrival until scheduled pushback. Two of the airlines gave me a sanitizer wipe when I boarded if I was concerned about the tray table, armrests and seatbelts.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I worked at a grocery store from end of 2020-2021. At the time we had attendants wiping down carts after every customer used it, had wipes at the front for people to use, hand sanitizer stations at the entrance and at the pharmacy, the belts at check out were wiped down after every customer and arrows were laid out in every aisle telling customers which path they were supposed to go down. We were even instructed to enforce that path too.

The day the mask mandate was lifted, I remember the store manager telling a coworker and I to pry all of those arrows off the ground. We were also told to remove the hand sanitizer stations, remove the wipes and carts/check out belts were no longer going to be wiped down. It was business as usual in the store. I still wore a mask at work as did a few other people but beyond that nothing else was done.

I have since left that job but I see that at other stores I shop at as well. I bring my own hand sanitizer and wipes whenever I go out, including on airplanes and at theme parks such as WDW and Universal.

 

[Meriweather]

Not wiping carts down at the grocery store anymore.....it has been a few months.
They do have wipes by the carts, but they always have.
I still carry my hand sanitizer with me and use it when I leave any store

 

[ronandannette]

Stores have pretty much all abandoned their sanitizing measures here and have also gone back to locking the carts, which means you need to put a dollar in to unlock them. That was eliminated during the height of Covid. The big grocers and box stores still do seem to have hand sanitizer at the door but nobody is there monitoring its use like before.

Restaurants still seem to be sanitizing the tables between parties, leaving that nasty, cloudy film all over everything. I guess it's good but it's also gross at the same time, KWIM?

At my workplace they hired a small team of people to do nothing but rove around the buildings sanitizing and re-sanitizing door knobs and high-touch surfaces all day long. That started early on as we were considered an essential industry and always continued attending our office. It looks like the most tedious job in the universe but the team is still in place to this day, wearing hazard vests and face shields. I wonder how much longer?

 

[MillauFr]

I never paid attention pre-Covid, during Covid, or now. My own computer keyboard is probably filthier than any public bathroom so I'm not too concerned about sanitation.

 

[lynxstch]

All of our grocery stores, including our Super Walmart), still spray and wipe down carts. They have hand sanitizer machines at both entrances, and still provide masks and gloves for any customers who want them. Labs, Dr offices etc..still wipe down seats and rooms after every patient. We don't go into restaurants often, so I have no idea how their cleaning is. I don't see any decrease here, thankfully

 

[Kestryl]

Yes. Actually some of it is worse now than it was pre-covid. My husband is a teacher. Janitorial is so understaffed that he has been lucky if his class is cleaned once a week, versus the 3-5 times it was cleaned pre-covid. At my work, our janitorial staff empties trash once a week, if at all. It used to be every day. They didn’t service our building for over 10 days- people started bagging up their trash and leaving it in the kitchen area. Our bathrooms went from cleaning every day to cleaning every other day- which is ok for the women’s restroom, apparently (less use), but my male coworkers have said theirs gets gross.

Which I get it. I don’t blame any of the janitorial staff. It’s a hard job, made harder from the lack of staff.

 

[Christine]

The wiping down has all but stopped here, although there are cart wipes at Wegman's and many stores have hand sanitizer (full) at the entry and exits. I think with COVID it's mostly theater anyway since the virus is primarily airborne. But I think all that wiping down is probably great for other things that tend to transmit better on surfaces.

 

[MamaMermaid]

South Florida here - no one is doing anything and our rates are around 20%.

 

[sam_gordon]

Hasn't it been "decided"/"claimed"/"proven" that Covid is not passed from touch? So wiping things down does nothing to help stop the spread?

I have a theory (with absolutely NOTHING to back it up) that the constant cleaning and disinfecting that was going on BEFORE Covid actually hurt. Sure, it kept germs away, but at the price of keeping our bodies from figuring out how to fight off simple diseases. Again, just my theory, and I'm sure it wouldn't take much to poke holes in it.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

The wiping down has all but stopped here, although there are cart wipes at Wegman's and many stores have hand sanitizer (full) at the entry and exits. I think with COVID it's mostly theater anyway since the virus is primarily airborne. But I think all that wiping down is probably great for other things that tend to transmit better on surfaces.

Yep, cleaning carts is far better for things like dripping bloody meats and raw seafood than it is for prevention of respiratory illness. It likely never made much of a difference in the earlier parts of the pandemic.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

Hasn't it been "decided"/"claimed"/"proven" that Covid is not passed from touch? So wiping things down does nothing to help stop the spread?

I have a theory (with absolutely NOTHING to back it up) that the constant cleaning and disinfecting that was going on BEFORE Covid actually hurt. Sure, it kept germs away, but at the price of keeping our bodies from figuring out how to fight off simple diseases. Again, just my theory, and I'm sure it wouldn't take much to poke holes in it.

It can be passed from touch (for example if someone coughs/sneezes on their hands, touches a surface or another person, and that person touches their mucous membranes, just like any other respiratory illness). It's just not the most likely way that it passes since it readily transmits airborne.

Your immune system is constantly monitoring its environment. It is a myth that it needs to be challenged purposely. Things like a healthy diet, sufficient rest, avoiding indulgences like drinking and smoking are far more important than worrying about if you are cleaning too much. And of course, proper hand hygiene (soap and water) is always beneficial and never harmful for the immune system.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think at this point in the pandemic, everyone knows what level of risk they are ready to assume. Bring your own hand sanitizer and wipe after touching a common surface. I just make sure not to touch my face while I shop, then use hand sanitizer as soon as I leave.

 

[Southernmiss]

Disney and Universal were not refilling hand sanitizers in June last year when we were there.

Masking was lifted when we got there.

All things have been back to normal here for a long time.

A random few continue masks while shopping. Though most employees are still wearing them.

We got our 4th booster last week, monitor our area for cases, but have not felt the need to mask this year and we've been to graduations, parties, and back to normal activities.

 

[MillauFr]

It can be passed from touch (for example if someone coughs/sneezes on their hands, touches a surface or another person, and that person touches their mucous membranes, just like any other respiratory illness). It's just not the most likely way that it passes since it readily transmits airborne.

Your immune system is constantly monitoring its environment. It is a myth that it needs to be challenged purposely. Things like a healthy diet, sufficient rest, avoiding indulgences like drinking and smoking are far more important that worrying about if you are cleaning too much. And of course, proper hand hygiene (soap and water) is always beneficial and never harmful for the immune system.

Then why do people living in filthy environments in 3rd world countries have far less auto immune diseases than we see in the US

 

[Christine]

Then why do people living in filthy environments in 3rd world countries have far less auto immune diseases than we see in the US

Could be a few reasons:
1. Antibiotic use--rampant in 1st world countries.
2. Exposure to toxins
3. Highly processed diet
4. Certain infections
5. Genetic traits in one then passed down over and over (maybe in 3rd world countries those with autoimmune don't live long enough to pass it down).

Lots of factors and not always about being too clean.

 

[ronandannette]

Hasn't it been "decided"/"claimed"/"proven" that Covid is not passed from touch? So wiping things down does nothing to help stop the spread?

I have a theory (with absolutely NOTHING to back it up) that the constant cleaning and disinfecting that was going on BEFORE Covid actually hurt. Sure, it kept germs away, but at the price of keeping our bodies from figuring out how to fight off simple diseases. Again, just my theory, and I'm sure it wouldn't take much to poke holes in it.

You could be right, of course, but anecdotally, I haven't had so much as the sniffles since 2019. Vaxed, boosted, masked (still sometimes) and modest use of hand sanitizer in public spaces and I haven't had Covid, a cold, the flu or Norovirus. Even though I never stopped going to work, shopping, eating out and have traveled by air many times in '20, '21, and '22, and have gone on two cruises in the past 8 weeks.