Today’s title is a play of “Love in the time of Cholera” because it is a surreal time we are living in just like in the books. This Coronavirus is really changing the way we live. This extremely contagious disease is now responsible for 40,000 deaths worldwide and has no sign of stopping anytime soon. The only way we can stay safe against this disease is to take every precaution to reduce the chances of exposure to COVID-19. We take every precaution to rid our hands and bodies of any contaminant but what about the things we bring back with us?

Coronavirus can live on surface for days

Did you know the Coronavirus can live on many surfaces for days? YES!!! The New England Journal of Medicine’s Coronavirus Study conducted tests to see how long this nasty virus lived on surfaces and the results will shake you: COVID-19 lives on cardboard for 24 hours, on plastic and steel, it can live for several days… Days! That’s too many a chance to catch this thing.

Delivery services are great but…

I love my grocery delivery services and I appreciate those people because they are risking their safety for mine. All the grocery delivery services I use, leave my groceries at the door. Because of this, there really is no way of knowing how much protection they used when picking my groceries. I open the door and there is a bunch of bags on my porch. For that reason, I have to treat those groceries as if they are contaminated with COVID-19 and have to minimize the chances of getting exposed to this extremely contagious virus.

How to safely bring groceries into your home

Method #1 Bringing home groceries from my local Publix:

1. First of all, plan your menu and create your shopping list
2. Take antibacterial aerosol spray and spray your shopping cart with it
3. Wear gloves. Also, I have a bad habit of biting any chipped nail I find so gloves will stop me from putting my hands in my mouth, touching my face plus they are so cute!
4. Place your groceries in your own shopping and produce bags
5. Disinfect your counters before you place food on the counter
6. Take out all the food inside cardboard boxes and toss the cardboard. (The box might have been recently touched by a human but not its contents)
7. Take an antibacterial wipe and wipe all food that cannot be taken out of packaging like orange juice, milk, coffee creamer, etc.
8. Wash all fruits and vegetables in soapy water. Add a small amount of dish soap to water and wash your fruits and vegetables for 20 seconds. This might sound crazy but think how many people touch produce when selecting the perfect avocado…
9. Disinfect the insides of your shopping bags. Wash your hands
10. Done!

Method #2 Receiving a Grocery Delivery:

1. Try not to bring the groceries in the house if you do not have to
2. Wear gloves
3. Take all the groceries out of the grocery bags
4. With anti bacterial wipes, I wipe clean everything that cannot be freed of its external packaging: plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc.
5. Discard all external packages. Next, I take out the cereal bags, granola bars, etc out of the boxes
6. Place all the disinfected food in my own grocery bags
7. Disinfect the counters where you are placing your groceries
8. Wash all fruits and vegetables in soapy water for 20 seconds
9. Discard all packaging in your trash bin right away. Wash your hands
10. Done!

Here is a great video that shows you how to do it:

My Grocery Shopping Supplies

Reusable and Washable Grocery bags, 10 bags $24.99

Reusable Ziplock bags 12 bags, $12.99

Reusable Produce Bags 15 bags, $10.99

Tips of grocery shopping in the era of COVID-19

• Shop with purpose. This will limit the time in the store browsing products and roaming the aisles
• Avoid crowded aisles. If you see 3 or more people, keep going. You can always try that aisle later
• Go, go, go! Do not stop for anything
• Give yourself 45 minutes to shop at the store
• Avoid selecting products. Pick one and grab it
• Wear a face protection and gloves. A paper towel over a cotton cloth over your mouth and nose is enough
• Try not to talk to anyone. The virus spreads as droplets in people’s breath. Not talking makes sure you are not a spreader
• Disinfect everything… even frozen products

So that’s it. This is really what I do when leaving my house to get groceries or getting groceries delivered. COVID-19 is a very dangerous virus and we must act with the highest level of care… not only for our families but for our communities. I live near two retirement homes and I’d be damned if I help spread this virus that is 10 times more fatal than the regular flu. Watch out!

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Good luck and stay safe my friends,

Peace, -Marifer

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links