I've written about washing my hands and wearing a mask outside [1]. The partner I live with reminds me of the WHO's information about droplets; this article from The Atlantic sums up her issues about shopping. (I'm a cancer survivor over 60; she is younger but with respiratory issues.)
In the spirit of equal time, here is her shopping protocol, following the principle, "When you touch a clean thing with a dirty thing, you now have two dirty things."
She has set up contactless payment on her phone for most of the (few remaining) places she goes. She decides where to shop based on how well she believes they follow (and make it easy for shoppers to follow) the "six foot apart" restriction, and for best results she is in line when they open, on weekdays. There's one store that she is OK with me going into at the moment, and only for the early morning "senior shopping hour".
Before she leaves, she:
- Prepares a shopping list on her phone
- Clears the path from the doorway to the "decontamination table" (repurposed card table)
- Opens the lid of the washer
- Places her bath towel next to the shower
- Prepares an apartment key on a neck lanyard, a car key, and a neck pouch (repurposed airline "free bag with socks" minus the socks) with her drivers' license and one form of payment
- Brings washable bags and a disposable glove
At the store, one gloved hand:
- Cleans the shopping cart handle
- Pushes the shopping cart
- Picks items off shelves
- Bags items (in the bags she's brought)
The other hand holds the phone. You can't click on a phone screen through a glove. She bought new styluses for us and tried them for awhile, before she settled on the one-glove protocol.
Upon arriving home, she:
- Kicks off her shoes at the appointed place for them (these are always assumed to be not-clean, like the dog leashes)
- Puts groceries on the decontamination table (photos below)
- Removes her clothing and puts it directly into the washer
- Takes a shower
After getting dressed in fresh clothing she cleans her phone with alcohol, and uses wipes to scrub the groceries that can be disinfected. Items that can't be wiped (onions, things in paper boxes) are left to sit, not touching, for the number of days she thinks it will take for the Covid19 viruses to perish. (So far we haven't bought anything that needs to go in the fridge that is covered in paper; fingers crossed.)
This is the decontamination table a few days ago [2]. My wallet is there because she was dismayed that I took my whole wallet out shopping and used two different cards at a gas (petrol) pump and a store. It was there for a long time. Note that we also have plenty of rice now and I am grateful for it.
This is the decontamination table a few hours ago. Most of the bags had been unpacked by this point. Right after I took this, she washed them in soapy water and hung them on the balcony. And she had forgotten that she wore that leather belt to the store.
[1] It's a non surgical mask but it reminds me not to touch my face.
[2] If I had to choose between dark chocolate and index cards, I would choose the index cards that I use for projects. I was running low on them and she went out and got 1000. I stacked them like that (and then washed my hands) because I thought she was going to bring home a package of CPAP gear that would need the space, but it was temporarily mislaid at the PO. We'll try again Saturday … to be continued ...
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