Corona Virus Now Spreading

[LTS3]

The independent grocery store reopens tomorrow after being closed for 2 weeks for cleaning and giving the employees a much deserved break. The new stores hours has changed a bit, 9 to 5 for the general public and a senior hour at 8. The pre-pandemic hours were 8 to 7. The store is requiring all customers to wear masks and gloves. I'm not sure if they'll have disposable gloves available for customers who aren't aware of the new requirement. I suppose one could just wear the plastic bags meant to put produce in over their hands in a pinch The store is pretty small with narrow aisles so keeping 6 feet away from others is going to be difficult

 

[NY cat man]

Oh, no. Such a time of anxiety. Will he get tested?

I don't know if he CAN get tested. Around here, if you're not a first responder or health care worker, you're pretty much out of luck, at least for now. Like me, he's just an old geezer, and we don't count for much- at least not in NY, we don't
As a btw, thanks for your expressions of sympathy. My uncle lived a long and eventful life, although he was the last of my uncles. I guess it was just his time.

 

[denice]

I am sorry about your uncle and I hope the others come through this okay.

I heard another doctor explaining how this antiviral works. It has to be given before the immune system's reaction becomes the major part of the disease. The virus starts in the lungs at the point where the tiny blood vessels pick up oxygen, it begins invading cells there. The immune system reacts and that is where the fluid buildup and inflammation begins. The antiviral has to be given at the point where the virus is still invading cells. That may be why the Chinese saw no difference with this medication, they were giving it after the immune reaction had become the major part of the illness. The more I hear about this the better it sounds. Dr Fauci said that the results were so good in the double blind study that they ethically had to break the code and begin giving it to the group that was being given the placebo.

 

[Tobermory]

Like me, he's just an old geezer

At least we have geezer hour at the stores. At one of our local stores, we geezers get 10% off if we shop before 10 a.m. Since I was wearing a mask—and my hair is still relatively dark for my age (no, not dyed—the cashier had to ask me if I was over 60. I laughed. Oh, yeah, passed that awhile ago.

 

[denice]

I really don't get the requirements for gloves in stores, I get the masks but not the gloves. Gloves get contaminated in the same way as hands do. Wearing the same gloves time after time is no better, actually could be worse then no gloves if those gloves are never cleaned. When they are used in health care facilities they are used in conjunction with frequent handwashing and they are a brand new pair with each patient. The only way they would accomplish anything in a store is if a new pair is put on after each time someone has touched something that could be contaminated. I saw an older gentleman in the store a couple of weeks ago who was wearing gloves but no mask. That really seemed backwards to me.

 

[LTS3]

I really don't get the requirements for gloves in stores, I get the masks but not the gloves. Gloves get contaminated in the same way as hands do. Wearing the same gloves time after time is no better, actually could be worse then no gloves if those gloves are never cleaned.

I agree Gloves just spread potential pathogens around. Touch fresh produce with gloved hands and then go touch boxes of dry goods wearing those same gloves etc. Sanitizing the gloves, assuming they're the plastic or rubber type and not cloth ones, in between touching things helps but that's not going to happen in a store by customers or employees.

 

[Willowy]

Yeah, I don't know how many changes of gloves Walmart will allow, but knowing Walmart, probably not a lot. So the gloves won't help much. I think they'd do better to have a hand washing break every hour for everybody, plus hand sanitizer for the cashiers.

 

[catapault]

If you use hand sanitizer how are you keeping sanitizer container uncontaminated? Here's my take on wearing gloves while shopping.

I wear a disposable glove on my right, dominant hand. I have a bleachy washcloth for wiping the cart handle and other things as needed, used with my left hand.

I stand and stare at whatever I'm contemplating buying so I am, hopefully, only touching the bunch of bananas I will buy, not several. BTW - have you noticed that no one seems to be ripping one banana off the bunch any more?

Check out. Cashier (behind plexiglass shield) bags items in store's plastic bags. Leave store, strip off glove inside out and discard into trash. Right hand is clean. Open car tailgate with bleachy cloth in left hand, set plastic bags into Costco boxes inside. Close and depart.

 

[Willowy]

If you use hand sanitizer how are you keeping sanitizer container uncontaminated?

I'm not sure it has to be, if you rub it onto your hands after you touch the pump. But I don't think most people need to/should use sanitizer---just cashiers who can't wash their hands after every transaction.

 

[denice]

I have heard it called 'shop with your eyes' which I think is the best thing anyone can do. I used to pick through produce or pick up something to read a label. I would also go to the back with dairy or salad mix to see if there is a later expiration date. I don't do that anymore. I don't pickup something unless it is to put it in my cart.

 

[catapault]

Let's think about this. You are going through the store bare handed, so you have been touching things. Done shopping. Get container of sanitizer - where had you been keeping it? If in purse you now touch purse with (potentially) contaminated hands, remove sanitizer bottle (potentially) contaminating it. Sanitize your hands and now replace sanitizer bottle in purse.

Maybe I'm overly paranoid. I'm also in a risk group due to age. So I'd rather be excessively prudent than on the casual side of things.

 

[Tobermory]

Here’s an excerpt from a short piece in today’s New York Times: “So when the Swiss authorities said on Wednesday that it was safe for children under 10 to hug their grandparents because scientists concluded that young children do not transmit the virus, the advice carried a caveat: Hugs should be brief.”

Whaaat??

It went on to say that the WHO was going to explore whether that was safe. It needed more research. Yah think?

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I wear latex gloves. I have 4 pair. I carry rubbing alchohol 70% strength with me. Mom had a bunch at home from when she volunteered at VA. After picking up each item i use the rubbing alchohol on my gloves. I never use the store bag. I have our own reusable bags in the trunk of our car. After check out, I spray and sanitize each item, let sit and dry then put in bags. After that I do the same with the gloves, the keys then my hands. those go into a different bag with my other cleaning supplies. After I get home the hour is up and we put the items away. I carry my cleaning arsenal around back to the basement and as soon as inside I douse with more rubbing alcohol while boiling water to 250 degrees. After which I pour the hot boiling water on each item and as soon as it cools enough to hand wash I use laundry detergent, hand wash each one and hang dry. Oh and I use a different mask for each store, so if I go to Aldi I don't use that same mask to go to Krogers, and then a 3rd one to go to Save A Lot, etc. I'm not a germaphobe, and probably got worse germs on me as a kid playing with field mice etc when down in the country. Still my Mom is almost 97 years old so everything I shop for and buy has to be sanitized away from home as she's too stubborn to let sit and we have thieves in the area that will still our food if sitting outside.

 

[denice]

I just put the groceries away then wash my hands. I don't use anything that I bought until the next day. I do go early in the morning once a week so the store isn't crowded. I do keep reminding myself not to touch my face until after I have washed my hands.

 

[Tobermory]

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday. Well, I went to the Trader Joe's parking lot yesterday. Kudos to them, they're restricting the number of people who go into the store, but the line snaked around the corner and down to the next store. I left. I didn't need anything from TJs; there are a few things I prefer to buy there. But I can buy substitutes at Fred Meyer. I'm too impatient to wait in lines at the best of times.

 

[DreamerRose]

We've gotten a little paranoid about all of this. I wore a scarf to the store and left it in the car when I came home. It was several days before I went out again, and by that time, any germs on it had died, so I wore it again.

If 2% of the population has the virus, that means 98% doesn't. We need to be cautious, but not paranoid. Front line responders and health care providers are bombarded with the virus everyday; we aren't.

 

[susanm9006]

I have a few dozen pairs of gloves, rubber and nitrile. I bring a couple pairs with on each trip. After I get back to the car I pull my pair off, and then open the car door. I put the bags in the car barehanded and then use hand sanitizer. I also carry a can of wipes in the car to wipe down the hatch, door handles , keys and hand sanitizer bottle. I save all my used gloves , store them for a week and then run them through the washer. I have been hanging them to dry but am experimenting with using the no heat setting in the dryer. In any case I will wait another week before using them . I just figure with as long as we are going to be dealing with this there is no sense throwing anything away unless it is too damaged to use.

 

[susanm9006]

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday. Well, I went to the Trader Joe's parking lot yesterday. Kudos to them, they're restricting the number of people who go into the store, but the line snaked around the corner and down to the next store. I left. I didn't need anything from TJs; there are a few things I prefer to buy there. But I can buy substitutes at Fred Meyer. I'm too impatient to wait in lines at the best of times.

I agree. I won’t wait in a line, masked or not. Last time I tried this guy insisted in talking to everyone, even though he was loud and unmasked. Being in line was more dangerous than being in the store.

 

[Tobermory]

I agree. I won’t wait in a line, masked or not. Last time I tried this guy insisted in talking to everyone, even though he was loud and unmasked. Being in line was more dangerous than being in the store.

Yeah, people were more or less spaced, but that's just not good enough for me. People were drifting closer to one another, and if you're in line, you're in a sandwich.

 

[sweet jane flash]

I wear mask and gloves and then when I leave the store I use their throwaway sanitizing hand wipes to wipe my gloved hands before i remove the gloves. My hands get washed so often already (before Covid 19) that it is easier & less drying; that way I can reuse the gloves more safely. It is next to impossible to buy gloves now and the same goes for rubbing alcohol. Just can't find those items any where and even ordering them online--oh drat they just never come! Then I wash my bare hands with my own softsoap and use more lotion. Oh well, we do the best we can-better than a lot of foolish people I see with no protection whatever! How rude! Anyway check out this picture from 1918 flu pandemic:File:165-WW-269B-11-trolley-l.jpg - Wikimedia Commons