Are you disinfecting your packages?

I am. Wish I could find out how important it is or not.

We have a whole protocol for bringing anything "foreign" into the home, including food. I'm too tired and grumpy to post it, but bleach water and small kitchen washcloths are involved and there are about 7 steps, including the person who shops washing their clothes on hot and taking a hot shower with tons of soap after shopping.

I’d like to start seeing videos of guys stripping down to disinfect themselves before coming inside.

Oh dear.

Just treat anything outside your house or apartment as radioactive. Wear latex gloves every time you leave your home When you come back, use sanitizing wipes on the bags, and all items. Wipe down your doorknobs and latch. Wipe down your keys and wallet (and phone if it was in the same pocket). Throw the gloves away and wash your hands and forearms.Then you can relax in your castle once more...until the next time you step out—just rinse, repeat.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't think about cleaning my groceries until after I had put them away. I did a half assed clean of the items and where they sat.

But I did use copious amounts of hand sanitizer before and after putting everything away, disinfected the areas where the bags were, washed my hands, took a shower, washed my clothes in hot water and then washed the store bags in hot water.

I figured I was ok because many of things I bought are not items that sell quickly so I know they weren't handled recently, but I remembered that someone could have coughed or sneezed near them.

That video is super intense.

R7, our protocol is more intense than that guy's.

For deliveries from Amazon I am opening the box and dumping the contents onto the floor without touching them. I then set the box aside and wash my hands thoroughly. If the contents are wrapped in plastic I wash the plastic before opening. If they are in a cardboard box I let it sit for 24 hours before opening - unless the contents are clothes or something that can go in the washing machine. The shipping box sits for 24 hours before I cut it up and put it in the recycling.

My doctor actually mentioned my shoes. They don't really clean the floor of Walgreens, etc. Take your shoes off at the door. Spray with Lysol. Don't put them on again till you are going out again.

I posted this in another thread:

[quote]I’ve been spraying grocery items and packages with Lysol and then I wipe them down with a Clorox wipe and that’s after I leave them sitting in my entry way for hours.

What happens when we run out of Lysol and disinfectant? It's getting harder and harder to find. I've got some stocked but who knows at the rate I'm using it, I'm going to need more in about ten days.

you can get high percentage isopropyl alcohol on ebay by the quart and gallon still. you can get 90 percent isopropyl alcohol wipes (big ones in a tub that are usually used to wipe down food stations). just make sure that whatever you use has over 60 percent isopropyl alcohol at the end. ie, be careful with your dilutions.

The guy in the r4 video should be wearing latex gloves.

I haven’t been wiping down groceries, but bought most stuff in February. When I buy more stuff, which will be around the beginning of May, I’ll be more careful. If I’m still here. Depending on the whole situation.

OP & all, this is one of the reasons we need testing. Many of us have caught this virus and gotten over it without symptoms; and if we/they could get tested, we/they could stop doing all this and stop stressing about it.

Where are the damn tests? Pence said there would be millions of tests available for everybody weeks ago, for anyone who wanted one. Where are the damn tests?

After each and every hookup. We don’t want Grindr disease.

It’s worse than that.

Also currency.

And I forgot the other thing. I’ll get back to you.

Oh, yeah, THE MAIL! I keep telling everybody, the mail! You get a paper cut opening a dirty envelope and it’s all over!

I am disinfecting or washing the packages I can, and leaving the ones I can't sitting on the floor in shopping bags for 2 days, hoping that's enough. I did however take a banana from a bag I bought yesterday hoping the virus doesn't live on its surface. I was careful when opening it, though, and kept the outer side of the peel away from the fruit itself. I could be paranoid but it is what it is.

The honest truth is, at this point I don't have anything better to do, so yeah I'm wiping and washing everything that comes into the house.

How about putting things in the tub and washing them with the shower nozzle?

Dear lord. The Easter Bunny can't get here soon enough.

If you have a portable steamer for clothes or a steam surface cleaner, I would use that to disinfect.

No point. Everyone, from the postman to the bank teller to the chemist to supermarket workers, wears latex gloves and face masks. I simply wash my hands after I've returned from shopping and a few times during the day.

R21, my pizza would get soggy.

Just put your mail in the microwave for a minute.

Everyone, take a deep breath. The virus is easily killed with an antimicrobial cleaner, fortunately, it has a thin vulnerable outer layer. Go to the EPA’s website for a list of approved cleaners.

Yes, when I unzip all my gentleman callers, I proceed to clean their package.

[quote]No point. Everyone, from the postman to the bank teller to the chemist to supermarket workers, wears latex gloves and face masks. I simply wash my hands after I've returned from shopping and a few times during the day.

The reality is we still don't know exactly how COVID-19 behaves. I've seen experts saying the virus particles in the air after someone sneezes might stay airborne for hours. It doesn't matter if someone is wearing gloves if the virus lands on a package in a shop.

Jesus Christ, you don't need to take a shower after being outside. You don't even need to change your clothes. I understand the shoe thing to a point. I have a pair of ratty slippers I use to walk around my building, if I need to do laundry or throw out the trash and I take them off when I get in the apartment.

Today, I started dipping my housekeys in a cup of Windex.

I focus more on avoiding hand to face contact, washing my hands very frequently. I use bleach on common pints of contact - taps, handles, light switches, counters, bannisters - and deep clean the bathroom and kitchen. I can’t get into this wiping down of every food item. I do phone, keys, etc. But the rest...I just don’t have the mental energy for that. I wash my hands instead.

Erm, R29? When have you ever actually seen someone sneeze on food in a shop? And if so, why would you still go there?

I'm washing virtually nothing when I come in the house. I avoid touching things when I'm out and wash up thoroughly when I get home, but washing down packages? I'd rather get the virus.

I started washing my underwear and socks in the bathroom sink. I'm trying to cut down on the laundry room in my building. They say the machines are safe enough since the heat will kill the virus, but I don't want to hang out and criss-cross too close to my neighbors who may be doing their clothes there as well. One or 2 I can probably avoid, but trying to go late or early hours when I go in the laundry room.

R29 I'm fine. Therefore, what I'm doing is effective. And the "experts" are speculating and guessing just like everyone else about this unknown virus.

My package is just fine, thanks.

[quote] Erm, [R29]? When have you ever actually seen someone sneeze on food in a shop? And if so, why would you still go there?

You don't have to sneeze into food directly. What I meant was that the active virus particles can stay floating in the air for hours. They will land on objects hours after someone sneezed and there's nothing you can do about it other than try to wash them off or disinfect the surface. This is not fantasy, I read it somewhere the past few days.

....

This virus can be passed to someone simply by a carrier (even without symptoms) exhaling near someone else; conversely, you can pick it up merely by inhaling near an infected person or inhaling where s/he has been. Also, this virus lives on various surfaces longer than other viruses. It's dangerous especially for folks who have underlying bronchial issues or compromised immune systems.

Wash your face as often as you wash your hands. Pay attention to area around eyes, nose and mouth. Leave soap on for at least 20 seconds.

[quote]The virus is easily killed with an antimicrobial cleaner ...

It's not so easy to get these cleaners right now ... people hoarded them like they did toilet paper.

I spray Lysol on bananas and oranges

I choose to believe this

have been running lysol wipes over everything. Hoping that is sufficient. I know the virus can live on surfaces for hours or even days. I was told that washing your hands frequently is the best preventative from surface contamination. Getting a little pissed off at joggers with their heavy respiration.. on my infrequent trips out, I cross the street when I see people jogging. Respiratory particles, I am told are the most common method of infection..

"But (pant, pant)... I'm HEALTHY!" (pant, pant, sweat flying) "Look at ME being healthy!"

We are rubbing any package we bring in, including groceries. I still go on walks but I clean my objects and change my outer clothing before I get casual around the home. Wash hands and face.

My partner is the most likely to be fine with illness, but I have something to me that's been left diagnosed since I had 'mild asphma' in my teens so I'm not so confident. Partner also visits and supports his mother in her 60s so we have to take care. We go on grocery trips together, not solo. Otherwise, contact with anyone and anything is minimal.

If cases and deaths pile up here to surprising levels, we can cut our exposure by half. Quick solo grocery trips, more family distancing, full body cleaning whenever outside, etc.

Ultimately, I expect us both to get it, and even his mother. But I would prefer we take further weeks and months if possible, and his mother to be well down the line while there's a seasoned system ready to help her.

The biggest thing really is hand and face washing. The problem is that if you want to be particularly conscientious or you have contact with vulnerable persons or are one yourself, its not unreasonable at all to get a little obsessive about contacts with others. At least for this spring.

“Asphma?”