With the novel COVID-19 in our midst, we must all practice social distancing and stay indoors except when we are to shop for necessities like medicine and food. But even if we keep our distance from other shoppers, we’ll never know for sure if the surfaces and the goods that we are touching in the supermarket are free from COVID-19 particles.
After all, studies have suggested that like other coronaviruses, this particular novel virus may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days, this is according the official website of the World Health Organization.
Fortunately, Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen, a family physician from Michigan, USA shares with us some concise guidelines on how to disinfect our groceries in a 13-minute Youtube video. In his procedure, Dr. VanWingen tells us to adapt the surgical “sterile technique” in our kitchen which will help reduce the risk of contracting the virus.
Here’s a quick rundown of Dr. VanWingen’s procedure in 8 simple steps:
Shopping:
1. Minimize your time in the supermarket. List down two weeks worth of groceries before heading out.
2. Make sure that the person going out does not have a respiratory problem or is not over 60 years of age.
3. Wipe down your cart and commit to what you are buying before picking it up from the shelf.
4. Once home, try not to bring them into your house unless you absolutely needed them. If not perishable, you can also leave them outside (in your car, garage, or porch) for up to three days.
