Nimbin resident Helen Badger is 70 years old and goes to extraordinary lengths to clean her groceries after they arrive at home from the supermarket. 

Helen is one of the immune compromised people in our community and she worries about the risk of becoming infected from touching surfaces which may have been in contact with Covid-19.

So, how far should we go when it comes to cleaning items we buy from shops in this age of coronavirus? 

Social media pages are full of stories of people wondering how safe things are to touch after seeing others coughing onto products in the supermarket isles and touching surfaces with their hands.

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

The results suggest that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects. 

It was after hearing about this that Helen and her husband started their shopping cleaning regime.

“I’ve only been shopping once in the last month – my husband does the shopping now, because I have lung problems,” Helen said.

“When he goes to the supermarket, he leaves home at 6.30am and does the pensioner supermarket shopping hour at 7am as quickly as possible - and then he comes home for the decontamination process.

“He disinfects his hands, then takes off his shoes and washes his clothes.

“We spray the reusable shopping bags made of material with disinfectant and leave them in the sun.

“We have different disinfectants we use - I have pure metho in a spray bottle and a disinfectant spray of eucalyptus and I have wipes. 

“We wash the fruit and vegetables in the sink – they have been handled by many people before it gets to us – it’s the most dangerous thing there is. The hardest to clean is onions and garlic – many things I leave on the veranda in the sun as long as possible.

“We wipe down the plastic on the products and remove the cardboard packaging on products and get rid of it.

“Some people think it’s too hard to do all that. It depends if your life depends on it. 

“We had wood delivered yesterday and I didn’t want the deliverer to stand too close to my husband. Some people don’t get it and sometimes I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle. 

“Maybe I’m over cautious, but it depends how vulnerable you feel - I have lots of health problems.  

“I’m even reluctant to go to the doctor and expose myself to other people. 

“How long until this is all going to disappear? It’s a different world now.

“We are the lucky ones, we might be old, but we are mobile and live on two acres and are making vegetable gardens, growing pumpkins and watermelons.

“People who live alone are more lonely and will miss going out more. I feel sorry for my young ones.”

Shopping tips

There are various information sources available on the internet with tips on how to keep yourself safe from infection from coronavirus. 

There are different opinions of whether masks are useful or not - some say it depends on the type of masks you use.

But, sometimes wearing a mask can help to keep other people away from you, and remind you to not touch your mouth, nose or eyes while you are wearing it.

Apart from the standard social distancing regulations of keeping 1.5 metres away from other people, other shopping tips for when at the supermarket include:

Wipe your hands and shopping cart, commit to what you are buying – don’t touch it otherwise - and plan what you will buy for two weeks.

Coronavirus