Some people are anxious to visit out-of-state family members, but the question on their minds is, “Can I fly safely right now?” This is a valid question, given the fact that COVID-19 is an airborne virus and the air in aircraft cabins is shared. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) states to maintain social distancing, which is near impossible in an airplane. According to health experts, though, you may not have to worry about flying if you and the airlines take the right precautionary measures.  

What Are Airlines Doing To Keep Passengers Safe?

Airlines require all passengers to wear masks throughout the flight, except for the moments when they eat or drink something. Additionally, most airlines block off middle seats to create some facsimile of social distancing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, airlines have enhanced sanitation practices, taking a more thorough approach to cleaning the planes between flights. Lastly, and most importantly, the ventilation in an airplane makes it very difficult for viruses to spread, according to the CDC.

Ventilation

We understand that getting in a giant tube filled with strangers sounds scary at the moment, but the air inside a plane is not simply recycled. Contrary to what you may have heard, the air inside a plane is filtered throughout the flight. MIT Medical claimed that the air quality on a commercial airliner is very high. The air volume in the cabin refreshes every two to four minutes. Air flows into the cabin from the overhead vents and travels down in a circular motion, exiting at floor level. When air leaves the cabin, half of it is dumped and the other half goes through HEPA filters, which are used in hospitals. The filtered air is then mixed with fresh air from outside the aircraft before entering the cabin again. 

According to several studies, HEPA filters on commercial airliners filter 99.97% of virus-sized particles. They can’t capture every respiratory droplet before someone inhales it. This is partly attributed to the fact that passengers and crew members move up and down the aisles, disrupting the airflow. This is why airlines require passengers to wear facial coverings on board. In the early stages of the pandemic, a man with a dry cough flew from Wuhan to Toronto. Everyone on the flight wore a mask. The man tested positive for COVID-19, but none of the other passengers tested positive. 

Masks And Social Distancing

It’s near impossible to social distance on a plane, but most airlines currently block middle seats to create space between passengers. Because of the inability to properly socially distance, airlines require passengers to wear masks for their own safety. Some airlines go so far as to only allow certain facial coverings on board. You have to check with the airline you fly on for specific details on this matter. Finally, wearing a mask helps to keep you safe, but the intention of masks is to keep others safe. 

At this time, close to one million passengers pass through security checkpoints on a daily basis. The daily numbers range from about 667,000 to 984,000, which is about half as many daily travelers as there were last last year. While it’s not 100% safe to travel by plane, the airlines are trying to make flights as safe as possible. A short domestic flight carries some moderate risks that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Wear your mask, wash your hands regularly, and do not travel if you feel sick or are fall into a high risk category for contracting the virus. Travel safely to keep yourself and other people safe. 

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As we enter the 2020-2021 flu season, Americans brace for the interaction between COVID-19 and the flu. Health officials still encourage everyone to practice proper hand hygiene, social distancing, and mask wearing when out in public. While these measures aim to protect people from COVID-19, they may also reduce the risk of contracting the flu. 

According to epidemiologists at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), they braced for the South African winter flu season (summer in the northern hemisphere) that logged a minuscule amount of cases. Some clinics were closed or they were only open for COVID-19 cases, so some flu cases probably got overlooked. Nevertheless, the NICD logs an average of 700 cases during a typical winter flu season. The epidemiologists attribute the lower case rate to travel restrictions, school closures, social distancing, and mask wearing. This holds true for the flu season that happened in South America, New Zealand, and Australia. Additionally, Taiwan experienced a 75% decrease in influenza cases as a result of mask wearing and social distancing. 

What’s In Store For The Northern Hemisphere?

As we know, the cold, flu, and COVID-19 are all respiratory viruses. There are some crossover symptoms and they are transmitted the same way: via infected respiratory droplets. Infectious disease experts stress the need to keep practicing social distancing. The reason for this is because respiratory droplets travel, but gravity pulls them down since they are heavier than airborne particles. The farther people are apart, the less likely it is for infected droplets to reach others. If people wear masks and maintain a six-foot distance when in public places, the chance of infection is much lower

Unfortunately, many cities and counties are not enforcing the necessary measures to keep everyone safe. Experts say this will increase the rate of co-infections, meaning people could contract both the common cold or flu and COVID-19 simultaneously. This phenomenon is considered rare because co-infection with the influenza virus is relatively low. Nevertheless, we must take precautions to reduce the number of flu cases, following in the footsteps of South Africa, New Zealand, and other countries in the southern hemisphere. 

Masks Are Important

Health experts continue to stress the fact that you can spread COVID-19 even if you do not feel sick. This is why masks are important. In fact, they are intended to protect other people in case you are infected, especially if you are in a public setting where social distancing is difficult. It’s easy for community transmission to occur if people are close to each other without masks on. While we are talking about COVID-19, this same theory also applies to the common cold and flu. Masks act as barriers that prevent larger respiratory droplets from landing on others and causing infection. Masks alone will not prevent people from contracting the flu or common cold, but they may dramatically decrease the amount of flu or cold cases. 

Wearing A Mask Properly

Most people wear masks incorrectly, primarily because they don’t want to wear them in the first place. They let their noses hang out, or they wear the mask around their chin. Both of these mask wearing techniques are ineffective and do not reduce your risk of contracting the flu, cold, or COVID-19. While there are different fabrics that keep out more respiratory droplets than others, the best mask is the kind that you wear over your mouth and nose. Wearing a mask incorrectly is like not wearing a mask at all. Masks need to fit snugly around the cheeks and down under the chin. Disposable masks are for single use only. If you wear reusable masks, only wear them for one day and then throw them in the laundry.

Clean And Disinfect

When you regularly clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces, you reduce the risk of contracting a virus from respiratory droplets that linger on those surfaces. High-touch surfaces include light switches, cabinet handles, doorknobs, countertops, phones, keyboards, faucets, and tables. You can use a diluted bleach solution or soap and water to effectively clean the areas. 

In conclusion, if the northern hemisphere follows in the footsteps of the southern hemisphere, which just emerged from its flu season, we can expect reduced rates of flu and the common cold. As long as we take preventative measures, i.e. wash hands regularly, wear masks, and practice social distancing, we can have a less catastrophic flu season than we’ve ever had. 

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At certain supermarkets, restaurants, or other public spaces, employees are implementing temperature checks with infrared thermometers to monitor fevers. If you recently returned to your place of work, you may have to take your temperature once you arrive. The purpose of the temperature check is to help monitor people who might be carriers of COVID-19, but many health experts warn that this is not the best method.

The practice of temperature checking is commonplace. Amazon, for example, started checking employee temperatures in the beginning of April, sending anyone with a temperature of 100.4º or higher home, as per the CDC’s regulation. Unfortunately, thermometers don’t detect the people who have COVID-19 without fever. When it comes to reducing your risk of contracting the virus, health experts agree that thermometers are not as effective as face masks and social distancing. This is because of the silent spreaders (a.k.a. asymptomatic carriers).

Do Temperature Checks Keep You Safe?

A temperature check is like taking your car in for service before a road trip. You’ll feel better, but it doesn’t mean that it will be immune from breaking down during your trip. Temperature checks identify people who are seriously ill, but one study found that many seriously ill COVID-19 patients didn’t exhibit fever. Growing evidence says that most community transmission occurs because of asymptomatic spreaders, though. People feel fine and don’t experience symptoms, yet they still spread the virus. This is more dangerous in restaurants or places where you can remove your mask amongst groups of people.

According to the CDC, symptom-based screening has limited effectiveness. Clearly visible symptoms or symptoms described by patients help, but so many people do not experience symptoms. This caused the CDC to shift its strategy to prioritize other health measures to reduce the risk of disease transmission. Increased sanitation, facial covering requirements, and social distancing have been in effect at most public places. These measures help to keep the public safe, but people also have to do their part to keep others safe, including:

• Staying home if they experience symptoms
• Self-isolating if they come in contact with potential carriers
• Doing what they can to stay healthy (eating healthy, exercising, and practicing mindfulness)

If Temperature Checks Aren’t Effective, Why Do Them?

While the temperature check is not the most effective way to detect COVID-19, it does set a precedent, a public health message if you will. It reminds people that they need to be cautious when they go out in public. Temperature checks aren’t the magic solution that will get the public back to some semblance of what we used to call “normal,” but they do remind people of the severity of COVID-19.

What Can Be Done Instead?

As we’ve explained in this article, mounting research shows that temperature checks are not effective for preventing community transmission. In an ideal world, all public spaces would have rapid turnaround tests for patrons. There are antibody tests that involve a finger prick and the results come back within 15 minutes. Since we don’t live in the perfect world, we can continue temperature checks as long as they are accompanied by social distancing and mask wearing. 

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The face mask has become an everyday accessory and everyone made the adjustment to wear one in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The very masks that help keep people safe, however, threaten wildlife and the environment. Masks line beaches, rivers, supermarket parking lots, parks, sidewalks, and more, endangering the health of animals that ingest them or get entangled in them. 

According to environmental researchers, roughly 200 billion disposable face masks and plastic gloves made their way into the environment since the start of the coronavirus. Now, add all of that disposable waste to the pre-existing plastic that enters our oceans and landfills on a daily basis. Laurent Lombard of Opération Mer Propre, a French nonprofit organization that cleans up beaches and oceans, posted a video of a beach littered with masks and gloves. The caption of the video read, “Soon there will be more masks than jellyfish in the waters of the Mediterranean.”

Disposable Mask Waste Is Global

OceansAsia, a Hong Kong-based nonprofit, found about 70 disposable masks across 100 meters of beach in the uninhabited Soko Islands. Trash Free Seas in the United States said that medical waste has threatened oceans and waterways for years. The continued use of disposable, single-use masks and gloves piles on top of the pre-existing plastic waste in our oceans. 

The Problem With Disposing Of Disposable Masks

Various photos that are circulating the web display masks around the legs of seagulls or floating in the water amongst marine life. If dolphins, turtles, or other mammals ingest these disposable masks, they can suffer from bowel obstructions or they can choke on the them. The elastic straps from the masks can easily entangle various wildlife. When the disposable masks make their way into our waterways, they release hazardous chemicals that make the ocean more acidic. Disposable masks are also comprised of polypropylene, a plastic that doesn’t break down easily and leaches toxic chemicals into the environment during decomposition. 

How To Properly Dispose Of Your Disposable Mask

First off, don’t just throw your disposable mask wherever you want when you’re done wearing it. When you throw it away, it’s imperative that you cut the elastic straps so that wildlife does not get caught in them. If you’re a health care worker and wear disposable masks, you may not be able to cut the straps after each use. Instead, rip the mask in half prior to throwing it away. And if you can’t cut the straps or tear the mask in half, make sure that you dispose of it properly so that animals cannot reach it. 

Start Wearing Reusable Masks

Since masks are required for the unforeseeable future, invest in some quality reusable masks, or make your own masks from old fabric. There are many online tutorials that explain how to make masks, even if you don’t have a sewing machine. Additionally, wearing reusable masks decreases plastic waste. Plus, you get to show off a little personality by picking patterned fabric, or you can draw/paint on your masks to show your creative side. Click here to read about the most effective fabrics and masks to keep yourself protected from COVID-19. Click here to learn how to make your own masks. 

If we all do our part, we can cut down on plastic waste while simultaneously keeping ourselves safe.

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Plastic face shields are abundant among beauty salon and restaurant employees nowadays. It’s essentially the equivalent of the spit guards that most stores installed at cashier stations to protect customers and employees. That being said, health officials say that plastic face shields are not meant to replace cloth facial coverings or N95 respirator masks.

The plastic face shield, which is a thin piece of plastic that covers your face, is an added layer of protection. The fact that they attach to glasses makes them attractive and more comfortable than masks. They don’t make your face hot, fog up your glasses, or contribute to “maskne,” a new term that describes the blemishes people develop as a result of mask wearing. At the same time, plastic face shields do not effectively block aerosol droplets from entering or leaving your mouth and nose. That means that they are not effective at protecting you from coronavirus.

Do Face Shields Prevent The Spread Of COVID-19?

As many health experts have noted, the primary method of COVID-19 transmission is via respiratory droplets. Face shields help to protect the wearers from some (not all) droplets from others, and they also protects others from droplets we spray. Since many droplets are invisible to the naked eye, it’s difficult to determine how effective face shields are at blocking them. There is room on the sides and under the mask for infected droplets to come in contact with your nose, mouth, or eyes. Cloth facial coverings, on the other hand, completely cover the nose and mouth, keeping you protected. If you couple the face shield with the mask, you add another layer of protection.

How Effective Are Face Shields?

As previously discussed, they do offer mild protection for the people who wear them. Health experts say that there isn’t enough data or published studies to determine how effective they are at combating the coronavirus. About a month or so ago, there was a COVID-19 outbreak at a hotel in Switzerland. The hotel staff that contracted the virus only wore face shields without facial coverings, whereas the staff members who wore facial coverings were safe. The Swiss government has since told people that they should not rely on plastic face shields to keep them safe from coronavirus. While the masks are mildly protective, aerosol droplets can find their way into the area behind the mask, meaning they are not an effective replacements for cloth masks.

How To Get The Most Protection From Face Shields

Make Sure It Fits Well

The looser the fit, the more prone you are to exposing yourself to aerosol droplets. The shield should go down below your chin, and it shouldn’t be moving around on your face. The shield needs to reach back to the ears, and you need to make sure that there are no gaps between your forehead and the front of the shield.

Wear A Mask With The Shield

The plastic face shield is simply an added layer of protection if you already wear a face mask. Cloth facial coverings ultimately help protect others, limiting the spread of the virus. If everyone wears them, it becomes difficult for community transmission to occur. When you wear a mask and a face shield around others who don’t have masks on, you are sufficiently protected.

Always Disinfect Your Shield

As with any high touch surface, you should disinfect your shield after each use. Alcohol can harm or warp the plastic shield, so it is wise to use a chlorine-based solution for sanitation. Using alcohol can also remove any anti-glare protection on the face shield.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed and numbers started to climb, many people started wearing masks in public. Many cities and states issued mandates that still require people to wear masks before entering certain businesses, in addition to maintaining a six-foot distance from others. Some people have taken mask wearing a step further, donning them for walks around the neighborhood and when they get in their cars.

There are two ways to look at wearing a mask whenever you step out the front door of your home. Some people may be high risk and want to be as safe as possible, while others live in fear and want to do everything in their power to avoid contracting the virus. Both ways of thought and the pursuant actions help limit the spread of the virus, but this article’s focus is whether or not masks are necessary while driving.

Should You Wear A Mask While Driving?

According to Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), you should not wear a mask while driving a car. It is beneficial to wear a mask in public settings, including grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, or any place where community-based transmission is easy. When it comes to masks in the car, there are some stipulations.

• If you are alone in the car or driving with members of your immediate household, masks are not necessary while driving.
• Traveling with someone else who isn’t a family member or doesn’t live with you? It’s best to wear a mask in the car to be safe.
• If you take a ride share service, wear a mask.
• Are you transporting someone who is sick or unhealthy? Both of you should wear a mask in the car.
• If you are a driver for a restaurant or food delivery service, it is reasonable and respectful to keep your mask on until after you deliver the food.

Is It Dangerous To Wear A Mask In The Car?

Many people complain that wearing a mask interferes with healthy breathing. Some symptoms can include dizziness or fatigue, but the severity of the symptoms will depend on the mask you wear. Research shows that N95 respirators can be dangerous for certain groups, especially children. The fact that they don’t fit right on children’s faces can get in the way of healthy breathing. The N95 respirator mask tested great against coronavirus, but it does make it more difficult for the wearer to breathe.

Tips For Breathing Easy With A Mask On

For many people, breathing with a mask on is not a problem. For people with underlying health conditions, especially respiratory disorders, wearing a mask is extra important, but it can impede breathing. Use the following tips to help breathe more easily while wearing a mask:

• Only use a mask when necessary, such as going out for essential items, grocery shopping, or any time when social distancing is not possible.
• Check the fit of the mask because it may need to be looser so it is less intrusive to your breathing. If the bottom of the mask is loose, the carbon dioxide you exhale can escape out of the bottom.
• Get masks that you can shape around your nose, for example, masks that have a thin wire to adjust the fit. This helps the mask stay on your face, but it allows the bottom of the mask to fit loosely.

One last thing to keep in mind is that if you do wear a mask while driving, make sure that it does not reduce your field of vision. The mask should cover your nose and mouth, but it should not block your eyesight.

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When you leave the house to go to work or get groceries, you take your keys, wallet, phone, and now your face mask. It has become a part of your being, and most cities in the United States require them in public settings, where social distancing isn’t possible. Since medical grade face masks and N95 respirators are in short supply and intended for health workers, you have to wear regular fabric masks, be they homemade or purchased from a retailer.

The “some protection is better than no protection” mindset doesn’t really apply to facial coverings during the pandemic. You can’t throw a piece of a T-shirt over your face and think you are safe. Some masks are simply better than others, offering varying levels of protection against COVID-19. Since the virus doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, your face mask game needs to be strong to keep yourself healthy and safe.

All Masks Are Not Created Equal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued recommendations for face coverings in public. At the time of this recommendation, there was limited research on the effectiveness of materials against the virus. Now, a new study revealed which masks or materials offer the best protection. Previous studies offered limited information about cloth-based face coverings, but the new study gives more insight for how to best protect yourself from COVID-19.

The Most Protective Masks

The N95 respirator mask provides the most protection, but the average person should not purchase this mask. Since this mask is beneficial for health care workers, please refrain from buying it because they are in short supply. Homemade masks need to contain at least two layers of cotton fabric for effective protection. To decrease the risk of transmission, make sure that the fabric you use in your mask is tightly woven. Flannel is excellent! If you can see through the fabric, don’t use it.

The Worst Masks To Wear

Despite the fact that a high percentage of people cover their nose and mouth with bandanas, they tested horribly against COVID-19. Handkerchiefs and bandanas are basically ineffective and should not be worn. Please do not use these materials to cover your face if you have other, better options available to you.

Social Distancing Is Still Necessary

Just because we outlined the best materials to protect yourself against COVID-19, that doesn’t give you an excuse to forget about social distancing. Facial coverings alone cannot protect against respiratory pathogens. Wearing masks, social distancing, and hand washing is the ultimate trifecta for keeping yourself healthy and safe. Don’t forget about eating a balanced diet that is full of colorful fruits and vegetables! Additionally, monitor high-risk areas like grocery stores, restaurants, or gyms, which have reopened in certain states.

Aversion To Wearing Masks

Some people feel that the requirement to wear a mask is a violation of their rights, or an invasion of privacy. If we want to move past this pandemic, we all need to work together and follow the health guidelines, which include wearing a mask. We have to protect ourselves, others, and vulnerable members of society (i.e. those with underlying health conditions or people over age 65). Let’s work together to slow the curve. Wear masks, remain socially distant, and take care of your physical health by exercising and eating healthy.

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Wearing a facial covering or mask helps to reduce the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus. Presymptomatic and asymptomatic carriers can unknowingly spread the virus, so wearing a mask is a preventative measure. Since gyms recently reopened, researchers started to look at the side effects of facial coverings during exercise.

Gyms took preventative measures, including temperature checks upon entry, making sinks and lockers out of order, and deep cleaning throughout the day, as they welcomed gym-goers back. The decision to wear a mask during a workout is up to the individual. According to scientific research, the same facial covering that helps slow the spread of COVID-19 makes exercise worse.

An Example Of Why You Shouldn’t Wear A Mask During Your Workout

A 26-year old man in China’s Wuhan city wound up in the hospital after he went for a jog while wearing a facial covering. The report stated that he ignored the fact that he experienced difficulty breathing during his jog. Because he hadn’t worked out in months due to the lockdown, he decided to push himself a little harder. He ran for six kilometers, instead of his regular three kilometers. Upon arriving home, he experienced chest pain and was immediately rushed to the hospital. The doctors concluded that one of his lungs collapsed as a result of engaging in intense cardiovascular exercise while wearing a mask.

What Sciences Says About Exercising With A Mask

When you exercise, you breathe harder and faster than normal. Naturally, this worries people because this increases the risk of passing on the virus if you are a carrier. Scientists say that masks make it difficult to inhale the amount of air needed when exerting more energy. Wearing a mask, then, strains the airflow and prevents carbon dioxide from leaving the body.

When you engage in heavy exercise, especially weight lifting, running, interval training, or resistance training, muscles produce lactic acid, which causes that burning sensation. The lactic acid is converted to carbon dioxide, which the body eliminates via exhalation. The mask can actually trap carbon dioxide, so you begin to re-breathe carbon dioxide, which ultimately reduces cognitive function and breathing rate.

Growing Evidence That Wearing Masks Affect Breathing

The British Journal of Sports Medicine published a commentary about face coverings restricting breathing and causing physical discomfort. Several scientists started to wear masks to conduct self experiments, since the pandemic prevents large-scale lab experiments. According to Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico, people can experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts if they don masks. Kravitz conducted a mini experiment with two student athletes. One ran without a mask and did not experience breathing difficulties. The other ran with a cloth mask and felt dizzy after a couple minutes.

Another test revealed that the concentration of oxygen reduced when running on a treadmill with a mask. At the site of the test, atmospheric oxygen was 21% at sea level. When running with the mask, atmospheric oxygen reduced to 19.5%, which equates to nearly 2,000 feet above sea level.

Masks Become Wet During Workouts

More studies show that wearing a mask while exercising creates a moist environment underneath, especially when worn for long periods of time. This can increase the risk of acne or other facial rash due to increased presence of trapped microorganisms. If you plan on exercising with a mask on, please bring extra so that you can change the mask if it becomes wet.

Before people suggest wearing a facial covering during a workout session, more research is needed to ensure the safety of the athletic community.

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The entirety of the American population is not on lockdown (not yet, anyway), but a high percentage is only allowed to leave the house to run essential errands. Going out to get groceries is possibly the most essential errand, because people need food to survive. The dichotomy is that you need to enter a public place filled with strangers to obtain groceries. This used to be a normal errand that nobody worried about, but times have changed and now people fear the potential threat of contracting coronavirus.

The new advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has encouraged every person to wear cloth face coverings when visiting essential businesses. Failure to comply in certain cities could mean that people are refused entry to the stores. This goes hand in hand with social distancing measures to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Some cities have even passed laws that require people to wear cloth coverings at all times when leaving the house.

Can You Get Coronavirus By Touching Food?

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is not a foodborne illness, and it is not likely to survive the acidity of the stomach in the same way that foodborne viruses or bacteria do. COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that is transmitted through respiratory droplets, and no evidence suggests COVID-19 transmission through food, according to Kali Kniel, Ph.D. and professor or animal and food sciences at the University of Delaware. Nonetheless, there are still safety measures you can employ when you go out for groceries.

Have A Plan Of Attack (And A Backup Plan)

Most grocery stores only let a certain number of people into the store at a time to help enforce social distancing. While you are waiting in line to get in, or while you are on your way to the store, plan out what foods you want to buy. Organize a shopping list to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. Finally, have some backup options because the foods or items you want in the store may be out of stock. For example, if there’s no almond milk but macadamia nut milk or cashew milk is in stock, try one of those options instead.

Go Shopping When It’s Less Busy

Mornings at the grocery store used to be free of people, but now there’s a sea of people waiting outside when the sun’s rising. Call the grocery store that you want to shop at and ask if there is a line or wait times to get in. You can also Google search the store’s name and location, and a box will pop up that shows average times of when foot traffic is high or low.

Wear A Face Covering

Most cities have made this a mandatory practice and the CDC has encouraged everyone to follow this instruction. Cloth face coverings provide a protective barrier between you and other citizens. Wearing them also helps keep the items in grocery stores clean and free of respiratory droplets from people who may have the virus.

Leave The Family At Home

Although people are chomping at the bit to leave the house for any reason, the grocery run shouldn’t be a family excursion. Try to go to the grocery store by yourself. Not only does it make it easier to be socially distant, but you don’t have to worry about children touching things they shouldn’t touch, or keeping their distance from others.

Grab Items From The Back Of The Shelf

The items that are located at the front of the shelf are typically the first to be touched. Perhaps someone picked up a box of vegetable stock, thought about it, decided against buying it, and put it back on the shelf. To avoid frequently touched items, reach to the back of the shelves to select those items because they have most likely been handled the least.

Optional Sanitizing Wipes Or Hand Sanitizer

If you plan on using a shopping cart or basket, you can take sanitizing wipes to clean the handles. If you don’t want to wear disposable gloves (not a necessary or recommended practice), you can carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer to use after touching commonly touched surfaces like freezer door handles or credit card readers. If you use hand sanitizer, just make sure it is 60-70% alcohol to disinfect properly.

You don’t have to overthink the act of getting groceries. Wash your hands before and after each grocery run, wash your produce, and disinfect the surfaces in your home that the groceries touch. Be safe out there and practice kindness.

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