Remember a time – just a few weeks ago – when a trip to your favourite chop bar was nothing to worry about? With the rapid rise in COVID19 infection, what are the safest ways to go shopping for food or accept a delivery or takeaway at home?
Coronavirus spreads when an infected person coughs small droplets – packed with the virus – into the air. These can cause an infection if they are breathed in, or potentially if you touch a surface they have landed on.
So going shopping and mixing with other people does carry a risk. That is why social distancing – keeping at least 2m (about 6ft) from others – is so important, and many shops are enforcing it.
Supermarkets and takeaway restaurants can provide an “ideal setting” for virus transfer, says Prof Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “Many people are touching and replacing items, checkout belts, cash cards, car park ticket machine buttons, ATM payment buttons, paper receipts etc… Not to mention being in the proximity of several other people.”
There are ways to offset these risks:
- Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water, or with alcohol-based hand sanitiser before and after shopping
- Treat surfaces as if they may be contaminated, meaning you avoid touching your face after handling shopping trollies, baskets, packages and produce
- Use contactless payment methods
Source: BBC
Image credit: Mark Wiens
