Tips For Grocery Shopping During COVID-19 Pandemic Remember the days when you could go out carefree? These days, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced everyone to stay at home. But what about grocery? Despite the lockdown, we all need to go out to shop essential items. So how will you stay safe and avoid catching the coronavirus at the grocery stores?
Here are some tips for safer grocery shopping during the coronavirus pandemic: 1. Minimize your grocery trips. Weekly or every other week is the best, but you shouldn’t be going every day. Prepare a shopping list in advance to use your trip wisely and purchase all the essential items you need. Moreover, don’t buy food items more than you need as it can create temporary shortages at the stores. 2. Wear a face mask to keep yourself and others safe at the store. Wearing a mask can reduce the risk of getting COVID-19 infection. 3. Designate one person for grocery shopping. Everyone is cooped up at the home and must be feeling tempted at the thought of going out of the house. However, it’s better to assign grocery shopping responsibility to one member of your family to limit exposure in the store. 4. Carry your own wipes or you can use the one provided by the store to wipe down the handles of shopping cart or basket. Moreover,wash or clean reusable bags before using them again. 5. Don’t forget about maintaining social distance. Keep at least 6 feet distance between you, other shoppers, and store employees to reduce the risk of spread. Don’t touch your hands to your face, mouth, and nose. 6. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds when you reach home and again after putting away your groceries. Use hand sanitizer while waiting and after leaving the store.
7. Don’t shake hands, hug, or have any physical contact with others. 8. If you’re 65 years old or above, ask your neighbors’ or friends to pick up groceries for you. Ask them to leave groceries outside your door and if you invite them inside, ensure to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet. If no one can pick up groceries for you, check with your local market and visit the store during the hours reserved for senior citizens. 9. Don’t go outside if you’re sick. However, if you still need to go outside, ensure to wear a mask and maintain social distance with others.
Is there any need to disinfect groceries? As per the FDA, there is no evidence of human or animal food and food packaging being associated with the transmission of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease and it spreads from person-to-person. But if you’re still worried, there is nothing wrong to wipe off food packages with disinfectant wipes. Make sure don’t drive yourself crazy trying to disinfect every last inch of your grocery haul. You can also try out letting the grocery items sit out for 24 hours before storing them as the virus losses its infectiousness and dies in a day or two. Well, these are some precautions that you need to follow at your grocery store to keep yourself and others safe. For more updates on COVID-19, stay tuned to the Wise Rx discount card blog! Source: https://www.wiserxcard.com/tips-for-grocery-shopping-during-covid-19pandemic/