# Safe shopping guidelines



## Brendan Burgess (1 Apr 2020)

Some Irish group has published these

*Safe shopping guidelines in full

Before shopping*
To protect yourself and others, try to reduce the
frequency of your shopping trips, because you will
put yourself at a greater risk than if you were to stay
at home.
Ask yourself the following:

Am I well enough to go shopping? If you are feeling ill,
you must not go out 
Am I in the group that requires shielding? If yes, then
again you must not go out
Do I need to shop today?
Could I manage without certain items and make do?
For example, could I bake my own bread?
Am I potentially vulnerable, and if so, could I ask
someone else to shop for me?
Can I go to quieter local shops or arrange with local
shops for collection or deliveries?
Could I shop online?
If possible, avoid taking your children to the shops and
try to shop at off-peak times to avoid the crowds.
Most shops now have special times for the elderly to
shop to reduce risks to them. These are usually in the
morning but check with your local store. There may also
be special arrangements for health care workers.
Make an inventory of what items you have and when
it will go out of date so you can use them in date order
and avoid wasting food and money by buying things you
don’t need.
Make a list and ensure you have enough food to last
until your next planned shop. Use your freezer to store
shorter life, perishable items such as bread and meats.

*During shopping*
Try to avoid peak shopping times, although it may now
be difficult to determine when these are.
Maintain a safe social distance of two metres from all
other shoppers and staff – this includes routes into and
out of the store. You may have to queue outside before
gaining access. If other shoppers are closing in on your
safe social distancing space, move away or remind them
of the requirement in a calm, friendly and polite manner.
If you need to handle a basket or trolley, ask if it has
been sanitised since last being used. If not, sanitise using
either your own sanitiser or that provided by the store.
Sanitise your hands when you enter the store, ideally with
your own sanitiser or, if available, that provided by the
store. Avoid contact with surfaces as much as possible.
Don’t delay while shopping or chat with neighbours/
friends/store staff.
If you are planning to remain at home for long periods
of time, consider buying non-perishable foods such
as canned goods or dry mixes that don’t require
refrigeration, such as ready-to-eat canned meats, fruit
and vegetables. But make sure you buy things you like
and will use!
Try to use only one hand (your non-dominant hand) to
pick up goods and place into your bag/basket/trolley.
This is to avoid contamination of your hands.

*After shopping*
If shopping for a vulnerable person, leave the shopping
on the doorstep, ring the bell or phone them and stand
back while they collect it.
Wash your hands immediately when you return home.
Plan how you will deal with your shopping in advance
of coming home.
Designate a cleared, disinfected area to sort out your
shopping.
Prior to stocking your fridges and cupboards, wipe
shelving with sanitiser and a paper towel, then discard.
Coronavirus can survive on hard surfaces, so wipe
the outside of all canned/hard surface pack goods
(tetra packs) with a paper towel/warm soapy water,
sanitise (following the manufacturer’s guidance).
Alternatively leave non-perishable foods in a safe place
for 72 hours.
Remove outer food packaging and discard, being careful
to limit handling of the inner packaging of items such
as yoghurts.
Page 3 of 4 CIEH, EHAI and IG

This is not a licence to panic-buy but to buy essential
items. It is best to limit shopping trips to once a week as
this reduces the risk of getting the disease or spreading
it to others.
Assess infection control measures in your local stores.
Some will be better than others. Use the store doing the
most to protect staff and customers.


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## Brendan Burgess (1 Apr 2020)

I don't know how much of this is OTT 

Someone sent me this video a few days ago, and it seemed like too much trouble to me. 









						How to Safely Grocery Shop During Coronavirus | NowThis
					

This doctor is sharing tips for grocery shopping during a pandemic.» Subscribe to NowThis: http://go.nowth.is/News_Subscribe» Sign up for our newsletter Know...




					www.youtube.com
				




It might be better to keep it to a few simple steps.


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## Brendan Burgess (1 Apr 2020)

What I do - apart from the usual physical distancing and hand washing 

1) Shop as rarely as possible - get as much as possible in one go
2) Pick up items and put them in the basket.  No multiple handling to check expiry dates. I try to see the expiry dates without handling
3) Use the Express check out 
4) Swipe my card 
5) Put the stuff that does not need to be refrigerated in my garage until I need it 

Not sure what I should be doing about gloves. I tend to wear my gloves all the time. Sometimes you have to take them off for the touch pad. That is my ordinary gloves and wash my hands afterwards.


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## noproblem (1 Apr 2020)

Use your non primary hand to do the handling, etc, if possible, we tend to rub our faces, head, hair, etc with our primary one. Just a thought.


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## Brendan Burgess (1 Apr 2020)

Yeah, I liked that suggestion. 

I like suggestions which are simple and easy to implement.

I am not going to disinfect my table and take everything out of its packaging and wipe it down just in case through some extraordinary chain of events there is a corona virus lurking on it.   But I will pick stuff up with my left hand instead of my right. 

Brendan


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## odyssey06 (1 Apr 2020)

I've been following the left hand public / right hand private approach for a while... I am right handed.

I am concerned about products like a milk carton, cheese package. This isn't really cardboard, it is water resistant so the virus could live on it for some time.
You put it into your fridge, the when you take it out you're may go straight to eating a sandwich with same unwashed hands.
So I've been wiping down products like that.

Whereas something you are going to cook, like a chicken or burger, you are going to cook it thoroughly and wash your hands after handling.
Or something you will eat for dinner, you will utensils.

And leaving non-perishables in the boot or hallway for couple of days before unpacking.


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## odyssey06 (1 Apr 2020)

Oh and watch out for the *divider *at the checkout, you know the little metal block you partition your shopping with on the checkout belt.
I expect that isn't being sanitised, and lots of people handle it - I use a tissue for handling it.


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## EmmDee (1 Apr 2020)

odyssey06 said:


> Oh and watch out for the *divider *at the checkout, you know the little metal block you partition your shopping with on the checkout belt.
> I expect that isn't being sanitised, and lots of people handle it - I use a tissue for handling it.



Our local Tesco doesn't allow someone to the tills until the person in front has finished, paid and left (i.e. one person around the till at a time) - so the divider isn't used. Maybe you could take a similar approach - just not start loading your stuff until the person ahead has gone through


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## noproblem (1 Apr 2020)

Wait until Christmas?


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## odyssey06 (1 Apr 2020)

EmmDee said:


> Our local Tesco doesn't allow someone to the tills until the person in front has finished, paid and left (i.e. one person around the till at a time) - so the divider isn't used. Maybe you could take a similar approach - just not start loading your stuff until the person ahead has gone through



Thanks for the tip. 
In Tesco, Dunnes, Supervalu I find they have a lot of 'collecting' space for goods that have been scanned.
In LIDL and ALDI it is only enough to collect a basket loads worth - which makes the above tactic trickier.


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## Baby boomer (1 Apr 2020)

Use self-scanners where available.  Means your shopping doesn't have to be handled by a cashier.  Fairer to the staff (who have my deepest admiration and sympathy) and safer for yourself too.


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## Brendan Burgess (2 Apr 2020)

I looked at the queue outside Tescos yesterday and there were 4 single shoppers and three couples. 

This is fairly typical. 

Why do couples have to shop together?  Surely it's making physical distancing harder.  And it's resulting in longer queues. 

Brendan


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## odyssey06 (2 Apr 2020)

Brendan Burgess said:


> I looked at the queue outside Tescos yesterday and there were 4 single shoppers and three couples.
> This is fairly typical.
> Why do couples have to shop together?  Surely it's making physical distancing harder.  And it's resulting in longer queues.



I think some shops were only letting one in, which makes sense given current restrictions.
I know if I was doing a big shop, it would be quicker with OH with me  - one stays with trolley and the other picks up random stuff like toiletries or wine; and with packing things away.
But it's not essential... and I've now switched to click and collect.


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## allaround (2 Apr 2020)

I've noticed some shops putting up signs only one person per family allowed, makes sense but hard to enforce, one would hope common sense would prevail in these matters


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## Brendan Burgess (2 Apr 2020)

I just passed Tescos in Sandymount and there were lots of kids in the queue.  They looked old enough to mind themselves for a short period while their mother went to the shops.

Brendan


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## Brendan Burgess (4 Apr 2020)

Supermarkets are 'high-risk sites of infection'
					

Supermarkets are high-risk sites of infection for Covid-19, according to the Irish Global Health Network, an independent gathering of people concerned with health inequities globally.




					www.rte.ie
				




I think it's wise to take precautions everywhere including supermarkets, but are they really high-risk sites? 



Brendan


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## odyssey06 (9 Apr 2020)

If you are doing a big shop and need to put in your PIN for card, use a cotton bud tip then bin it.


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