During this outbreak of COVID-19, we have been advised to stay home and go out as little as possible. Most of us are following all these rules but there are some instances when we have to go out. In those cases, like grocery shopping, there is a new set of rules that includes wearing a face mask, maintaining the distance from other shoppers, sanitizing our hands, and so on.
Taking into consideration that these tips are constantly on TV, you are almost certainly familiar with all of them. However, you might not understand them completely. Due to this, in this article, we are going to list all the tips and rules you should follow, and we will also try to explain most of them.
Contents
1. Choose the right time
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In countries that are under complete lockdown, people do not have a lot of choices when it comes to going shopping. Why? Well simply because all the stores are open only a few hours a day. Since this is not the case everywhere, you have to be smart about the time of the day you go to the store.
As it is to be expected, most people go shopping on the weekends and in the late afternoon. If there is any chance, you should avoid the peak hours. Nevertheless, considering that today many people work from home or don’t work at all, the peak hours might have changed in your area. Yes, yes, we know, you have to buy groceries today, but if there are too many people at the supermarket when you arrive, you might want to consider coming back in an hour or two.
If there is absolutely no way for you to avoid the crowd, you have to be extremely careful and protect yourself by wearing a facial mask, trying not to touch any surfaces, and keeping the distance from the others.
Furthermore, if you are elderly, you should check if the store has special shopping hours. Many supermarkets do this to protect older citizens by providing them with the opportunity not to be in contact with young people how might be infected without knowing it. As you know, older people are at a greater risk of severe consequences, and a lot of individuals under a certain age can have the coronavirus without exhibiting any symptoms.
2. Go shopping once or twice a week
Source: livescience
This one goes without saying. Social distancing is the main method we should all practice to stop the coronavirus from spreading. Because of this all the concerts and sporting events have been canceled, it is prohibited to take a walk if you are in a group of people, and so on.
Naturally, people have to go grocery shopping, but still, there are a few things that you should do. First of all, in order to minimize the frequency of the trips to the store, you should plan all the meals in advance, for at least a few days or an entire week. Think about the food you will eat for breakfast and dinner, make a list of all the ingredients you need to cook dishes for lunch, don’t forget about snacks and things like juice, milk, and so on. In addition, make sure to include cleaning supplies and personal care products.
Depending on the number of members of your family, this list might be short or quite long, still try to calculate the exact amount of everything. You shouldn’t purchase too many items that you cannot spend in the foreseeable future. Instead of overstocking buy exactly the amount you need, because there are other people just like you that have to feed their families.
Another thing, try to opt for less crowded stores. If you cannot avoid going to one completely, you should at least try to minimize the number of people you interact with. After all, this is the only way to protect your health.
3. Get ready
Source: forbes
When you do go to the local supermarket, there are a few things that you should do in order to get ready. Firstly, wash your hands before you leave the house. Hand washing and sanitizing is the most important thing everyone should do, so we are not going to discuss it further.
Secondly, put on a face mask. There has been a lot of debate about whether we need to wear these or not, but many experts agreed in the end that these are essential. There are many types of these masks, the main difference being between those that are disposable and those that are not. If you are interested in purchasing the disposable ones, check out the winnerzen website.
4. Sanitize everything
Source: nypost
Now let’s discuss what you should do upon arriving at the store. If it is possible, you avoid using a cart, but since you are probably going to buy weeks’ groceries, this is really not an option. Before you touch one of these, you should wipe the handle thoroughly with sanitizing wipes or some similar product. Depending on the product, some need more time to act i.e. to kill all the germs than others, so make sure to read the label.
5. Do not touch everything
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This is probably very tricky, especially for those who like to investigate different items before choosing one. Even though there still aren’t many specific data regarding how long the virus can stay on certain surfaces, you should try to avoid touching everything you can.
Instead of picking up a few bags of chips or cartons of milk, you should just opt for one and get it. Also, if you are worried that a lot of people have touched the items before you, you can always sanitize them when you get home.
6. Keep your distance
Source: vox
We all know that this is almost impossible to do when grocery shopping which is why in some countries, supermarket security allows only 5 or 10 people to be at the store at any moment, depending on its size. If this is not the case with your area, you should still try to maintain the distances of 6 feet from other shoppers. If you see that there are already a few people in a certain aisle, go to another one and then return later.
7. Do not touch your face
Source: kansascitymag
Whatever you do, do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth while you are out in public, regardless of how many times you have used a hand sanitizer. Finally, after you have unpacked and cleaned all the groceries upon arriving home, you have to thoroughly wash your hands, just to be on the safe side.
