Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 3-20-20

COVID-19 Precautions
How To Protect Yourself From Coronavirus When Grocery Shopping
Here Are Precautions To Take Whether You Shop In-Store Or Online
BY TOBIE STANGER
With experts saying peo- ple should avoid crowded places because of the novel coronavirus, what should you do about grocery shopping? One option people are turning to is grocery delivery services.
Instacart, one of the largest services, told us that over the past week its sales growth swelled tenfold. In California, Washington, and New York — states where the most coronavirus cases have been reported so far —growth has been twentyfold.
“For older people and those with underlying health conditions — the group that the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention recom- mends stay home — I would highly recommend using a grocery delivery service,” says Jim Rogers, CR’s director of food safety research and test- ing.
CR's Coronavirus Resource Hub
Stay up to date on the lat- est news and use our advice to keep yourself and your family safe.
But whether you buy gro- ceries online or in stores, there are some simple steps you can take to try to limit your exposure to the novel coronavirus, and they’re not so different from what CR recommends you typically do. Be sure to:
Wash nonporous con- tainers. Simple rubbing with soap and water can kill the coronavirus because it tears apart its outer barrier. So use dish soap on plastic, glass, and metal before putting them away. If that's not prac- tical, wash your hands well after putting away all packag- ing, including paper boxes and bags. "It all comes down to hand hygiene," says Liz Garman, a spokesperson for the Association for Profes- sionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology in Arling- ton, VA.
It also doesn't hurt to wash your hands after open- ing the containers and using their contents.
"But if you use a pasta box a few days after you get it, there is little likelihood that the virus could still be live on
the box and cause an infec- tion," says Eike Steinmann, a virologist at Ruhr-Universi- tat Bochum in Germany who has studied how long viruses live on different surfaces.
Wash your hands, counter, and other surfaces you’ve touched. Do this after you've put away the groceries. Keep in mind that using a dis- infectant isn’t necessary un- less you’re sharing a space with someone who is exhibit- ing signs of respiratory illness or has been exposed to the virus.
Wash produce with soap and water. Because COVID- 19 is from a family of viruses very likely deactivated by con- tact with soap and water, washing your fruit and veg- etables with soap and water should eliminate any live virus, says Rogers. What's more, rubbing fruit and veg- etables under running water — and scrubbing those with hard skins—can help remove pesticides.
That said, there’s no data to show that COVID-19 is spread by consuming food, Rogers adds. "The risk of getting the virus from your food is considered low," he says.
For hard-skinned pro- duce, scrub skins or peels with a soft-bristled vegetable brush, using dish or hand soap and warm water. For other types of produce, in- cluding leafy greens, soak in soapy water for 10 to 15 min- utes, then rinse thoroughly.
Other steps may not make much difference. For instance, buying frozen veg- etables rather than fresh under the assumption that they’re packed in a more san- itary way hasn’t been backed up by evidence, Rogers says.
If You’re Getting Your Groceries Delivered
Even if a grocery store or warehouse is thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis, the delivery person needs to take the same precautions to pre- vent the spread of a virus to you.
(Among the six services in our recent review of gro- cery delivery services, Ama- zonFresh, Amazon Prime Now, Instacart, and Shipt em- ploy independent contractors for deliveries. Instacart has begun offering up to 14 days of pay to all shoppers — in-
cluding independent contrac- tors —sidelined by coron- avirus, plus sick pay to its part-time in-store shoppers. FreshDirect and Peapod de- livery personnel are company employees; and Walmart, which wasn't part of our rat- ings, uses DoorDash for deliv- eries.)
While those companies might recommend that deliv- erers wash their hands often, practice other hygiene meas- ures, and stay home when they’re feeling sick, they can’t monitor whether drivers are actually taking those precau- tions, says Erin Hatton, an associate professor of sociol- ogy and a labor scholar at the University of Buffalo. “And without paid sick leave, work- ers are going to try to push through as much as they can,”
Hatton says.
So follow these steps
when ordering deliveries: Avoid a direct hand-off. Arrange to have the items de- livered to your doorstep or a place nearby instead. In- stacart added that option last week; other companies have places on their order forms where you can indicate spe- cial delivery instructions. FreshDirect says its drivers will no longer bring groceries
into a home.
Tip electronically. One
benefit of ordering deliveries online or via an app is that you don’t have to hand the de- livery person money. Oppor- tunities to tip the delivery person are included in most of the delivery apps and on- line ordering systems.
Order earlier than you
usually do. Though it's not a safety issue, you may find that in the midst of higher de- mand you have to wait longer. FreshDirect, for instance, mentions on its home page that delivery times are filling up faster than usual. Amazon- Prime Now, which chiefly de- livers from Whole Foods, also mentions that “availability may be limited,” though it’s not clear whether that means delivery times are limited, items are limited, or both. (An Amazon representative didn't respond to a CR request for comment.)
If You’re Picking Up Prepacked Groceries
The steps are basically the same for this option as for delivery. If you’ve ordered and are merely having some- one put the
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