Have you relaxed on sanitizing things?

[Flight]

Just wondering something ... has anyone actually gotten COVID19 from packages, groceries, or anything like that? Certainly folks working in places like an Amazon warehouse, grocery store, etc., have gotten the virus but we don’t actually know, do we, if it’s a case of the virus being on packaging?

Good question.

How would anyone know?

It’s not like someone is diagnosed with covid which results in the person’s home and car immediately isolated and teams of immunologists, infectious disease specialists, lab technicians, and CDC rapid response teams converge and test everything in sight for clues as to the transmission.

Each person makes their own decision as to what they are comfortable with (or afraid of) in managing their lives. There seems to be many and varied voices of experts giving information and instructions as to whatever we wish to believe.

 

[DLgal]

I never sanitized mail or groceries or take out food packages. I clean my household surfaces as regularly as I always did. The only thing I do that was not a normal thing was keep hand sanitizer in the car and use it after shopping or picking up takeout food. I never went so far as to strip down naked and wash my clothes after running errands, and I wear my shoes into the house without Clorox wiping the soles down first. I mop the floor once a week, same as always. My kids are FINALLY washing their hands before eating, though. Only took them 15 years...

 

[Disneylover99]

Still sanitizing everything new that comes into my house. I’m at home and I have time, so it’s not a big deal to me at the moment.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Just wondering something ... has anyone actually gotten COVID19 from packages, groceries, or anything like that? Certainly folks working in places like an Amazon warehouse, grocery store, etc., have gotten the virus but we don’t actually know, do we, if it’s a case of the virus being on packaging?

There was a woman in NC (I think) who claimed she got it from groceries being delivered. In the same story it was revealed she had gone to the pharmacy even though she claimed she had not left her house.

We never sanitized our groceries or packages. I was leaving some packages outside, but we had some bad weather and I started bringing them in, unpacking everything, throwing boxes out, washing hands after.

I leave my shoes outside when I come home from the store.

 

[DLgal]

Good question.

How would anyone know?

It’s not like someone is diagnosed with covid which results in the person’s home and car immediately isolated and teams of immunologists, infectious disease specialists, lab technicians, and CDC rapid response teams converge and test everything in sight for clues as to the transmission.

Each person makes their own decision as to what they are comfortable with (or afraid of) in managing their lives. There seems to be many and varied voices of experts giving information and instructions as to whatever we wish to believe.

The CDC and various experts have repeatedly stated that the risk of catching the virus from a SURFACE is VERY LOW. Likely nonexistent when you are talking about food packaging, mail, and delivery boxes that spend a lot of time sitting in hot trucks.

I guess the only way this could be sort of proven is if a person LITERALLY isolates in their home alone for over 14 days and ONLY has access to things that get delivered, and that person gets sick. I am sure if that had happened, we would have all heard about it.

 

[cobright]

And you......?

Oh ho ho... you take a lot of precautions, more than most. Hate to be a topper, but strap in...
Anyone leaving my house to do something involving other people (shopping basically) wears a germicidal barrier lotion on all exposed skin and wears a powered respirator. Everything coming into my home gets sanitized. We have a sealed foyer and everything with a hard surface get's put in a box and hit with Germicidal UVC. Clothes are removed and exchanged with clean clothes from a sealed ziplok bag. 'Dirty' clothes are sealed in the now-empty bag and taken immediately to the clothes dryer to run a cycle. Anything that will not stand up to UVC gets disinfected with ozone.

All of the doorknobs and faucet handles have been replace with ones made of antimicrobial copper alloy. And I'm very close to replacing my counters with copper as well, though I've been wanting to do that for years.

 

[marthachick]

We never went overboard with hand sanitizer or Lysol wipes or Lysol spray. We wash hands and wipe surfaces we use. Honestly, if you’re the only one in your house and not going out, why do you need to continually sanitize everything? We use a LOT of essential oils and Lysol takes my breath away. I wonder after all of this is over how many cases of overexposure to Lysol fumes will cause problems.

 

[maxiesmom]

We never went overboard with hand sanitizer or Lysol wipes or Lysol spray. We wash hands and wipe surfaces we use. Honestly, if you’re the only one in your house and not going out, why do you need to continually sanitize everything? We use a LOT of essential oils and Lysol takes my breath away. I wonder after all of this is over how many cases of overexposure to Lysol fumes will cause problems.

Overexposure to essential oils can cause problems too. As with anything scented, you have to be careful.

 

[marthachick]

Overexposure to essential oils can cause problems too. As with anything scented, you have to be careful.

This is true! We don’t go overboard with EOs either! Good point though!

 

[Kitty 34]

Overexposure to essential oils can cause problems too. As with anything scented, you have to be careful.

I agree.....no essential oils here; my lungs would have an issue with that. In fact I had to have my DH remove one of his squirt sanitizers in the house as it was way too perfumy for me. I only wash my hands with soap and water here at home. When I go for my infusion they want me to use their smelly hand santizer which of course I do but that's it.

 

[mnrose]

Nope. Mail sits in the garage for 24-48 hours. Groceries are either immediately sanitized (perishables) or quarantined in the garage for 24-48 hours before being brought inside. I wash my hands immediately upon returning home if I've been outside. I'm hyperaware of my hands not being near my face when I'm out. I anticipate that this will simply be the new normal going forward.

 

[Monykalyn]

Or maybe you didn't do any of that in the first place.

What has changed for me is that I’ve stopped being terrified that everything is “contaminated.” It was starting to feel unhealthy to me.

Haven't done anything different at all. Never started the hype clean stuff.

 

[RapunzelIsMyHomeGirl]

We've found a system that works for us after initially sanitizing everything.

What we do NOW:
Groceries: We get our grocery delivered so someone has just touched each of the items. Anything that will not be touched for at least a few days goes away first. No sanitizing. Then we wash our hands. Everything else that we will be using very soon if it's safe to sanitize we do, if it's safe to wash with soap instead we do, water next, and then whatever can't be, can't be. We wash hands again.
packages: We have a tub for our packages and they sit in there until we need to open them up this way we don't have to wipe them. If we need it immediately we discard of the boxes and wash our hands.
shoes: no slacking on taking them off at the door. We only go out for walks and nature but still just overall keeps the house tidier.
hands: We stay on top of hand hygiene.

Everyone is able to work from home right now so we don't have anything else to worry about. We don't go to the stores, etc. to reduce the risk of picking up the virus.

We're happy to work with this new normal if it keeps the citizens of our state healthier and living longer lives.

 

[KayMichigan]

I still wipe my groceries down. Since there's so much we don't know about the virus, I suspect that one of the reasons so many people are catching it is from packaging. It's just very hard to prove. It can live for several hours on cardboard, and you have no idea who's been handling the stuff you've bought. The risk might be super small but it's still there, and I figure it couldn't hurt.

 

[wenrob]

Haven't done anything different at all. Never started the hype clean stuff.

I never “hype” cleaned stuff. However, I was almost consumed with the idea that everything could possibly be contaminated and what if we all got it because I didn’t. It was an anxiety driven limbo that’s kind of hard to explain.

 

[NotUrsula]

I was going to work for 2 weeks after the outbreak got pretty bad but before the SAH order; I was being very careful then. My hands were a mess from constant washing. Now, not so much. DH washes his hands when he comes home from work (small closed office, no clients coming in), and that's about it. I'm not washing my hands now any more than I did back before this all started, unless I go on a grocery run. I do wipe down the cart handle and be careful what I touch in the car when I come out of the store, but since my car now sits idle for days at a time, I'm sure anything that is in the car when I park it is dead before I come back again, as a virus cannot exist without a living host.

 

[charming23]

I never went crazy with sanitizing things but I did change my habits. I wear a mask when I go out and I make sure I carry a Clorox wipe in a baggie with me to wipe the car down but most stores have that stuff. I make sure I use antibacterial hand gel a couple of times when shopping and certainly after being at the cash register touching keypads. I also sanitize after I load my groceries in the car take the cart back. Once I’m home I bring my groceries in unload them wipe down the counter Where I stage them before putting them away and then wash my hands with hot soapy water. I never set my mail aside to wait for a few days or packages I just made sure to really wash my hands well afterwards

 

[mikehn]

Before all this, I was a clean freak. Now Im a clean freak on steriods. I might never catch another cold.

 

[texaslover]

Oh ho ho... you take a lot of precautions, more than most. Hate to be a topper, but strap in...
Anyone leaving my house to do something involving other people (shopping basically) wears a germicidal barrier lotion on all exposed skin and wears a powered respirator. Everything coming into my home gets sanitized. We have a sealed foyer and everything with a hard surface get's put in a box and hit with Germicidal UVC. Clothes are removed and exchanged with clean clothes from a sealed ziplok bag. 'Dirty' clothes are sealed in the now-empty bag and taken immediately to the clothes dryer to run a cycle. Anything that will not stand up to UVC gets disinfected with ozone.

All of the doorknobs and faucet handles have been replace with ones made of antimicrobial copper alloy. And I'm very close to replacing my counters with copper as well, though I've been wanting to do that for years.

Seriously?? Impressive just from a time, effort, and monetary perspective. Where did you get a powered respirator and germicidal barrier lotion?

 

[MamaLema]

Just wondering something ... has anyone actually gotten COVID19 from packages, groceries, or anything like that? Certainly folks working in places like an Amazon warehouse, grocery store, etc., have gotten the virus but we don’t actually know, do we, if it’s a case of the virus being on packaging?

I don’t have the link but I did hear one case where a person got it from grocery delivery. They hadn’t left the house for weeks. That is the only case I’ve personally heard about so it doesn’t seem to be spreading at a high rate that way.