05-31-2020, 10:14 AM
Oh wow, that's really interesting. The advice in the UK is cardboard/paper is low risk and plastic/metal has the potential for the virus to remain viable for around 3 days.
I just watched an interview with one of the scientists advising the UK government and he was saying they don't know exactly how long the virus sticks around. Lots of the advice given to start with was based on what they know about 'flu, but obviously that's a different virus. He explained the test for viral particles is very sensitive so it might pick them up on a surface after a couple of days, but that doesn't mean they are viable/"alive". He was very clear that they don't know yet.
The article you linked to is really fascinating. They say that most transmission is person to person, which I fully believe. But I'm still sanitizing! if I get groceries delivered they can come in containers where I might use the food without cooking it - for example a bag of salad (e.g lettuce). Yesterday I had some ready made falafels arrive and took the lid off the plastic and ate them after sanitizing the container. With both examples I'd sprayed down the plastic with a mist of 70% isopropryl alcohol. Otherwise my understanding is that I'd risk getting the virus on my fingers when opening the container... next I'd reach inside to get food to eat. Somewhere along the way I'm sure I'd touch my face.
Right now I'm being much more cautious with anything I'm going to ingest, because it goes near my face. If I get some mail then it sits unopened for 24 hours, but I'm less worried because I'm not going to sniff the envelope or eat the letter ;-) However, I do wash my hands after.
Everything else that comes into my house is treated in one of the following ways:
BTW If anyone decides to try UV-C please do your research, I'd hate for any forum member to be injured. Also ebay is full of products claiming to be germicidal UV LEDs, but most are fake. To make UV-C actually requires a glass tube. Real ones are about $20, which is about the price of 1 litre of isopropyl alcohol in the UK right now. Feel free to drop me a PM before spending your hard earned cash or injuring yourself.
I just watched an interview with one of the scientists advising the UK government and he was saying they don't know exactly how long the virus sticks around. Lots of the advice given to start with was based on what they know about 'flu, but obviously that's a different virus. He explained the test for viral particles is very sensitive so it might pick them up on a surface after a couple of days, but that doesn't mean they are viable/"alive". He was very clear that they don't know yet.
The article you linked to is really fascinating. They say that most transmission is person to person, which I fully believe. But I'm still sanitizing! if I get groceries delivered they can come in containers where I might use the food without cooking it - for example a bag of salad (e.g lettuce). Yesterday I had some ready made falafels arrive and took the lid off the plastic and ate them after sanitizing the container. With both examples I'd sprayed down the plastic with a mist of 70% isopropryl alcohol. Otherwise my understanding is that I'd risk getting the virus on my fingers when opening the container... next I'd reach inside to get food to eat. Somewhere along the way I'm sure I'd touch my face.
Right now I'm being much more cautious with anything I'm going to ingest, because it goes near my face. If I get some mail then it sits unopened for 24 hours, but I'm less worried because I'm not going to sniff the envelope or eat the letter ;-) However, I do wash my hands after.
Everything else that comes into my house is treated in one of the following ways:
- 70% alcohol spray (expensive, but very effective and evaporates without leaving chemicals behind)
- dilute spray of bleach (cheap, but not suitable for everything and leaves residual bleach)
- washed with soap and water (cheap, but only suitable for things like raw fruit and veg)
- UV-C (ultra violet light, band C) - this is a bit of an experiment, inspired by something IceWizard said recently... placing materials in a room and irradiating with UV-C. This has to be done multiple times so I can turn around the objects and make sure they get blasted from all sides. Safety note: UV-C is not the UV you get in a tanning booth (it is closer to x-rays), you do not want to be in the room with the UV tube is running (it can cause skin burns, eye damage, skin cancer, etc). It produces lots of ozone gas and its best not to breath too much of that if you can avoid it, so needs ventilation. As with other UV it can bleach the color of things in the room - best done in your garage. UV can over-ripen fruit and veg and turn it to mush, so test on a small amount! Good for bottles, cans, Amazon parcels you don't want to get wet...
BTW If anyone decides to try UV-C please do your research, I'd hate for any forum member to be injured. Also ebay is full of products claiming to be germicidal UV LEDs, but most are fake. To make UV-C actually requires a glass tube. Real ones are about $20, which is about the price of 1 litre of isopropyl alcohol in the UK right now. Feel free to drop me a PM before spending your hard earned cash or injuring yourself.