Where to Worry About Catching Covid-19, and Where Not To
Each virus has its unique pattern of spread, and scientists are starting to get a handle on how the novel coronavirus behaves. This understanding is making it possible to rank the risks of different activities from high to low to trivial.
From back in my early early days in the State Dept. of Health, (As inspector and Microbiologist), I've always been somewhat of a disinfection freak. Don't get me wrong, I am not a germaphobe by any stretch, but there are things that I do and avoid for public health benefit. I mean things like saving leftovers, to my aversion to eating food from personal kitchens I haven't seen....
Here is my brief COVID-19 primer.....
Incoming items... We have deemed a 100 or so square feet garage area for non-disnfection deliveries. That area remains in quarantine, for a time specified from a list that I have found on various sites..
Cardboard- 1 day
Steel- 3 days
Plastic-3 days
Glass- 4 days
Copper - 4 hours
Wood- 2 days
Paper- 1 day
Cloth- 2 days
Paper Money- 4 days
Since we do have a few pre-existing conditons, we opt for grocery pickup, and take more precautions than those with less risk. When we return, a disinfection station is established. Method includes:
(1) Pre-prep of a 10% bleach solution in a spray bottle, and a sizable cloth rag.
(2) Card Table set up near vehicle for grocery processing
(3) Wash hands, and sterilize all peripheral areas in vehicle, and card table with bleach solution
(4) Have ample supply of pre-Q'ed plastic bags for grocery processing ready. Do not use/re-use cloth bags unless they have been washed.
(5) Disinfect all items being removed. As a good rule of thumb, either a "one second" contact time, or a obvious liquied residual should be adequate. Be careful not to cross contaminate, pre-prep areas and areas storing cleaned items.
(6) As a team, have spouse, child, whoever periodically pickup and put items in correct Fridge/Freezer/Pantry locations. Keep clutter to a minimum.
(7) After completing all items, isolate bags, and other non-home items to garage Quarantine area for specifed time listed above.
(8) Disnfect all areas, knobs, switches, etc, of home and vehicle, after processing.
(9) All involved wash hand throughly. And as another good rule of thumb, after washing, you know you've done a decent job if your hands smell like a swimming pool.
