I started hearing about covid on reddit back in December 2019. In another life, I worked at FDA and what I was hearing really scared me: my sister was immunocompromised, and I was terrified she’d contract the virus and die. So when I talk about what I was doing, recognize that we had to be taking extreme precautions, to avoid my sister getting infected by this virus that would kill her and that no one knew how to treat. Because of her health, we absolutely had to be a couple weeks ahead of whatever precautions were being taken by everyone else, and we took extreme precautions during the early months of the pandemic.
In a way being ahead of the curve was nice - everything we needed was easily available. But we were operating ahead of official advice, so we had to figure out our mitigation strategies ourselves. I bought a lot of stuff: N95 and surgical masks, surgical gloves, hand sanitizer, bleach, Lysol wipes, UV-C lights, copper foil, garbage bags, plastic wrap, medication for any ailment I could think of, extra prescription medications in case of supply chain issues, pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs, overfilled my pantry with various staples, etc.
You mentioned handling groceries. In the very early days, when they were really worked about fomite transmission, I was the “outside contact” for my sister and a couple other friends with health issues. When someone needed something we didn’t have, I’d collect lists of whatever anyone needed from that store. I’d make two versions of the list: one master list for when I was in the store, and a separate per-person list that was stuck to the refrigerator for later reference.
I’d wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, surgical gloves, an N95 mask, then a surgical mask over top of the N95 to help filter out larger particles and extend the life of my N95 masks [more on supplies later]. I’d go to the store, buy whatever we needed, and put it in the trunk of the car: the trunk was the hot zone, where all the non-sterile stuff went. I’d open the car door, use the hand sanitizer to clean the trunk and car door handles and my car keys, then remove my gloves and toss them in a garbage bag the trunk as well. I’d take off my masks and put on a fresh surgical mask.
I’d get home, put on fresh gloves, prop open the doors, disinfect the handles, leave my shoes outside the front door, and bring all the bags into the kitchen; everything got piled into one section I’d taped off on the floor that I called the hot zone. Once everything was inside, I hung the used masks on a pole across the ceiling of the utility room, disinfected the trunk and car door handles again, along with my keys and the steering wheel, and disinfected the knobs on the front door.
I went into the utility room, removed my gloves and scrubbed my hands and forearms like a surgeon. Then I stripped my clothes off directly into the washer, scrubbed my hands again, and disinfected the outside of the washer. At this point, the only contaminated stuff should be the items I’d just bought - and myself. I brushed my teeth, used a disinfectant mouthwash, took a shower and scrubbed thoroughly.
I put on another mask, got dressed into another long-sleeved shirt and surgical gloves, and de-bagged everything I’d bought onto the counter in the hot zone - being very careful not to step onto floor in the taped-off “hot zone”. The empty bags went into the garbage out back, I changed my gloves, the doorknobs were decontaminated, and I mopped the floor with bleach, then removed the gloves and scrubbed my hands again. Now the only potentially contaminated stuff was on the hot zone counter.
I put on fresh gloves, and started disinfecting whatever we’d just bought. If it had a plastic covering, was a jar or can, it got washed with disinfectant. If it was cardboard, it got wiped down or scrubbed with Lysol wipes. Once something was clean, it got moved to the clean zone.
Odd-shaped items were an issue - think things like broccoli. I’d finish the all regular cans and boxes, take off my gloves and shirt, scrub my hands and arms, put on a new long-sleeved shirt and fresh gloves, and bring the odd-shaped items into the UV-C “chamber”. This was a large shelf that I’d lined in all directions with tin foil, with plastic wrap on top of that, that had a UV-C light strung across the top. [I don’t remember the specific technical details, but I remember obsessing and making sure I was buying a light in the correct range to kill viruses and stuff.] [Continued next comment]
I’d put the items in the chamber, turn on the light, and close the lid. After 15 minutes, the side facing the light would be fully decontaminated; I’d take them out, put them clean-side down on a sterile counter, throw out the plastic wrap that was on top of the tin foil, remove my gloves, scrub my hands, put on new gloves, put down fresh plastic, and put the items back in the chamber with a potentially contaminated side up, remove my gloves, close the chamber, set it to run another 15 minutes, scrub my hands, sterilize the counter where I’d put the item(s) down, then scrub my hands again. After doing all “six” sides, I deemed the item(s) sufficiently decontaminated and moved them to a “mostly sterile” section. If you’re keeping track, it took about 2 hours for each set of things to go through UV-C decontamination, so it was slow! Once all the UV-C decontamination was done, I’d wipe down the tin foil with Lysol wipes, let it dry, then put down a fresh layer of plastic wrap, ready for next time.
Once all the items were decontaminated, I’d scrub down the “hot zone” counter. Then I’d scrub my hands again and change my shirt and gloves, put on fresh sneakers, then I’d get out fresh bags and, using the lists on the fridge, re-pack the items per-person.
As mentioned, aside from myself, I was handling buying stuff for my sister and two other friends. I’d pack up everything going to one person and put it in the back seat of my car: the trunk was the “hot zone”; the front seat was the “I’m potentially infected” zone; and the rear seat was the clean zone. Whenever I was in the car, I’d open the front passenger-side window, and the rear driver-side window; this created a natural “wind” barrier between myself and the items in the back seat, to minimize the risk of my accidentally reinfecting the items. I’d also wear a mask and gloves, to be careful; I didn’t want to infect and potentially kill someone I cared about.
I’d go to my friend’s place / my sister’s place and drop everything off six feet from their front door, and stand back while they brought everything inside.
Then I’d go home, disinfect car doors, keys and doorknobs, leave my shoes outside, strip off my clothes directly into the washer, scrub my hands, start the laundry, take a shower, put on fresh clothesc and yet another pair of shoes, and drop off stuff to the second person. Then home again, more disinfecting, another change of clothes and shoes, another shower, and the final drop-off. Then home, * more* disinfecting, another change of clothes, and another shower.
Honestly? It was fucking exhausting. I was so glad when they decided fomite transmission wasn’t the big risk they’d thought it was!
I started hearing about covid on reddit back in December 2019. In another life, I worked at FDA and what I was hearing really scared me: my sister was immunocompromised, and I was terrified she’d contract the virus and die. So when I talk about what I was doing, recognize that we had to be taking extreme precautions, to avoid my sister getting infected by this virus that would kill her and that no one knew how to treat. Because of her health, we absolutely had to be a couple weeks ahead of whatever precautions were being taken by everyone else, and we took extreme precautions during the early months of the pandemic.
In a way being ahead of the curve was nice - everything we needed was easily available. But we were operating ahead of official advice, so we had to figure out our mitigation strategies ourselves. I bought a lot of stuff: N95 and surgical masks, surgical gloves, hand sanitizer, bleach, Lysol wipes, UV-C lights, copper foil, garbage bags, plastic wrap, medication for any ailment I could think of, extra prescription medications in case of supply chain issues, pulse oximeters, blood pressure cuffs, overfilled my pantry with various staples, etc.
You mentioned handling groceries. In the very early days, when they were really worked about fomite transmission, I was the “outside contact” for my sister and a couple other friends with health issues. When someone needed something we didn’t have, I’d collect lists of whatever anyone needed from that store. I’d make two versions of the list: one master list for when I was in the store, and a separate per-person list that was stuck to the refrigerator for later reference.
I’d wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, surgical gloves, an N95 mask, then a surgical mask over top of the N95 to help filter out larger particles and extend the life of my N95 masks [more on supplies later]. I’d go to the store, buy whatever we needed, and put it in the trunk of the car: the trunk was the hot zone, where all the non-sterile stuff went. I’d open the car door, use the hand sanitizer to clean the trunk and car door handles and my car keys, then remove my gloves and toss them in a garbage bag the trunk as well. I’d take off my masks and put on a fresh surgical mask.
I’d get home, put on fresh gloves, prop open the doors, disinfect the handles, leave my shoes outside the front door, and bring all the bags into the kitchen; everything got piled into one section I’d taped off on the floor that I called the hot zone. Once everything was inside, I hung the used masks on a pole across the ceiling of the utility room, disinfected the trunk and car door handles again, along with my keys and the steering wheel, and disinfected the knobs on the front door.
I went into the utility room, removed my gloves and scrubbed my hands and forearms like a surgeon. Then I stripped my clothes off directly into the washer, scrubbed my hands again, and disinfected the outside of the washer. At this point, the only contaminated stuff should be the items I’d just bought - and myself. I brushed my teeth, used a disinfectant mouthwash, took a shower and scrubbed thoroughly.
I put on another mask, got dressed into another long-sleeved shirt and surgical gloves, and de-bagged everything I’d bought onto the counter in the hot zone - being very careful not to step onto floor in the taped-off “hot zone”. The empty bags went into the garbage out back, I changed my gloves, the doorknobs were decontaminated, and I mopped the floor with bleach, then removed the gloves and scrubbed my hands again. Now the only potentially contaminated stuff was on the hot zone counter.
I put on fresh gloves, and started disinfecting whatever we’d just bought. If it had a plastic covering, was a jar or can, it got washed with disinfectant. If it was cardboard, it got wiped down or scrubbed with Lysol wipes. Once something was clean, it got moved to the clean zone.
Odd-shaped items were an issue - think things like broccoli. I’d finish the all regular cans and boxes, take off my gloves and shirt, scrub my hands and arms, put on a new long-sleeved shirt and fresh gloves, and bring the odd-shaped items into the UV-C “chamber”. This was a large shelf that I’d lined in all directions with tin foil, with plastic wrap on top of that, that had a UV-C light strung across the top. [I don’t remember the specific technical details, but I remember obsessing and making sure I was buying a light in the correct range to kill viruses and stuff.] [Continued next comment]
I’d put the items in the chamber, turn on the light, and close the lid. After 15 minutes, the side facing the light would be fully decontaminated; I’d take them out, put them clean-side down on a sterile counter, throw out the plastic wrap that was on top of the tin foil, remove my gloves, scrub my hands, put on new gloves, put down fresh plastic, and put the items back in the chamber with a potentially contaminated side up, remove my gloves, close the chamber, set it to run another 15 minutes, scrub my hands, sterilize the counter where I’d put the item(s) down, then scrub my hands again. After doing all “six” sides, I deemed the item(s) sufficiently decontaminated and moved them to a “mostly sterile” section. If you’re keeping track, it took about 2 hours for each set of things to go through UV-C decontamination, so it was slow! Once all the UV-C decontamination was done, I’d wipe down the tin foil with Lysol wipes, let it dry, then put down a fresh layer of plastic wrap, ready for next time.
Once all the items were decontaminated, I’d scrub down the “hot zone” counter. Then I’d scrub my hands again and change my shirt and gloves, put on fresh sneakers, then I’d get out fresh bags and, using the lists on the fridge, re-pack the items per-person.
As mentioned, aside from myself, I was handling buying stuff for my sister and two other friends. I’d pack up everything going to one person and put it in the back seat of my car: the trunk was the “hot zone”; the front seat was the “I’m potentially infected” zone; and the rear seat was the clean zone. Whenever I was in the car, I’d open the front passenger-side window, and the rear driver-side window; this created a natural “wind” barrier between myself and the items in the back seat, to minimize the risk of my accidentally reinfecting the items. I’d also wear a mask and gloves, to be careful; I didn’t want to infect and potentially kill someone I cared about.
I’d go to my friend’s place / my sister’s place and drop everything off six feet from their front door, and stand back while they brought everything inside.
Then I’d go home, disinfect car doors, keys and doorknobs, leave my shoes outside, strip off my clothes directly into the washer, scrub my hands, start the laundry, take a shower, put on fresh clothesc and yet another pair of shoes, and drop off stuff to the second person. Then home again, more disinfecting, another change of clothes and shoes, another shower, and the final drop-off. Then home, * more* disinfecting, another change of clothes, and another shower.
Honestly? It was fucking exhausting. I was so glad when they decided fomite transmission wasn’t the big risk they’d thought it was!