Wear a mask, but skip the gloves. Don’t sanitize the apples. And if you are older than 65, it’s probably best to still order your groceries online.
As a food virologist, I hear a lot of questions from people about the coronavirus risks in grocery stores and how to stay safe while shopping for food amid the pandemic. Here are answers to some of the common questions.
Can I touch the tomatoes?
What you touch on the grocery shelves is less of a concern than who breathes on you and other surfaces you might come in contact with in a store. In fact, there is currently no evidence of the virus being transmitted by food or food packaging. You may have heard about studies showing that the virus can remain infectious for up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to 72 hours on plastic or stainless steel. These are controlled laboratory studies, in which high levels of infectious virus are applied to the surfaces and humidity and temperature held constant. In these experiments, the level of infectious virus — virus capable of causing disease — decreased even after a few hours, indicating that the virus does not survive well on these surfaces.The highest risk is close contact with other people who may be shedding virus in droplets as they sneeze, talk or breathe nearby. Next would be high-touch surfaces, like door handles, where someone not practicing good hand hygiene might have transferred the virus to the surface. In this scenario, you would have to touch this surface and then touch your own mucus membranes — your eyes, mouth or ears — to contract the illness. Think about how often a surface is touched, and then decide if you can avoid the riskiest spots or use hand sanitizer after touching them. Significantly more people touch door handles and credit card machines compared to a tomato in a bin.The highest risk is close contact with other people who may be shedding virus in droplets as they sneeze, talk or breathe nearby.