Should I Sanitize My Groceries to Protect my Household from Coronavirus?


In a word. Yes. According to Dr. Jeff Kwan a professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto:

"As a precaution, especially if there are vulnerable people in the household, wiping down [or] washing the groceries might not be a bad idea."

A study published in March determined the new coronavirus can live in the air for several hours and on some surfaces for as long as two to three days.For this study, researchers used a nebulizer device to put samples of the virus into the air, imitating what might happen if an infected person coughed or made the virus airborne some other way.They found that viable virus could be detected up to three hours later in the air, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.“We do know that the coronavirus can survive on plastic for up to 72 hours,” said Dr. Jeff Kwong, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Sources: 


https://www.sciencealert.com/food-safety-expert-explains-how-to-safely-deal-with-groceries-during-the-pandemic
Share