Corona Virus: What are you doing to contribute to reduce the curve?

Birdsnest

Well-Known Member
I think this is an important second thread on the situation. The intent is to share ideas so we as individuals and groups can move forward aggressively on containing the virus.

Im a single person so I have its fairly easy although it is still life altering.

Ive developed 2 Walls of disinfection.

1 is my door step where I have a foot bath with bleach.

The other is my truck.

In My truck I carry a thermos of hot soapy water with a bit of bleach.

I have to go out occasionally for groceries and work. When I park at my destination I wash my hands in my truck with the hot soapy water and get out. I take the rag with me. I shop, I keep my distance from others. I don't touch my face. Basically I treat myself as if I was infected only touching stuff that I will buy.
I pack my stuff and put it in the back of my truck.
I rub my hand in the soapy towel and open my truck door and get in. Then I wash my hand again and touch nothing. I wash my keys too. Then I close the truck door.
When I arrive at home I get out of the truck and wash the outside surface I may have touched before.

In my home I have an area ready for the groceries. Surfaces are free of any items and disinfected. I place my groceries, considered infected and have hot soapy water with a bit of bleach and I wet wipe it all down, what I can anyways, and place them in a preciously disinfected surface. When I am done I throw the bags outside to wash them out there. Then I disinfect the area in the back the truck.
Im not sure how to handle things like leafy greens but Im working on it.

I use the foot bath when going in and out of my front door.

I know that some here may think this is over the top but I am doing it not because I am scared to death but to instal confidence that I am doing my part. In all honesty I am hesitant to post this for I have seen already a lot of public shaming on both ends of the issue via social media.

This is not a time for devision among Canadians it is at time for unity.

Socially isolate, reach out to friends family and others and see if they are ok. Help a neighbour. Share your ideas to assist in all aspects of our society during this difficult time.

On a positive note I do see some good coming of this. We as a country finally have an issue that we can all stand up for as one united country.

I'm very interested to hear what others are doing.
 
You are doing what you feel will keep you safe.
I retired one week ago. Can't visit mom in new to her old folks home in LM. Cancelled golf for two groups of 4 today. Stopped going to off leash dog parks. Staying home. Groceries are good. I've made a couple trips to Home Depot and Canadian Tire to get stuff I need and stuff I might need for home/garden projects if they close. Neighbour is under 14 day self-isolation after a 3 day drive back from winter in Palm Springs, so helping them with a few things.
Hands are getting chafed from washing. Will wear gloves for expeditions from now on, then rinse in bleachwater if the supply runs low.
 
When you are talking about shopping don’t forget to wipe down your credit/debit cards after use. Lots of people lean over those machines.
 
When you are talking about shopping don’t forget to wipe down your credit/debit cards after use. Lots of people lean over those machines.

Ya, Im not using cash anymore. I wipe my card down before and after and my fingers.
 
We agree that this thread should stand alone regarding Covid 19 as it is specific to how we can all share and learn from each other about proper practices to keep everyone safe. The only caveat is that it stays on topic. If posts start to wander into other areas of discussion we will simply move them to the general thread already in existence on this subject.
 
We've got a spray bottle filled with bleach+water. We spray and wipe all groceries upon arrival home. Only 1 adult goes out to stores (and only when necessary). Kiddo plays at home with our own toys. No playground or shared toys like basketballs.
 
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Given my extreme vulnerability to this plague, in the few times I have gone out in the last month (medical appointments, lab tests, supplies and food runs and one fishing trip) I drive the same vehicle and have what I call my plague suit except for fishing. It consists of a light easy to wash blue jean jacket, long sleeve tee shirt and blue jeans and runners. When I return home and the supplies are in and the door closed I wash my hand and then alcohol them. Then put the fresh and frozen food away. I may have to consider some sort of decontamination process as per Pineapple Express for fresh or frozen food. All other food and supplies go into the temp. storage area, for time to decontaminate them and will not be touched again for a week or two. The plague suit goes in the washing machine with lots of soap and bleach and then the dryer on hot, as the virus does not like that kind of heat. Alcohol wipes for the lid etc.The shoes are used only for outings and isolated for time decon. Then its a 2nd major hand washing and alcohol hand spray followed by a shower with lots of soap and water for the whole body decon.

When shopping it is credit card only and preferably tap. Cash is the perfect vector for spreading the virus from person to person. No wallet, take only the plastic cards you need for the trip in a small zip lock bag. Start up a new key chain with only the keys needed when going out. I have one set of glasses that are only used when I go out. I never touch keypads or elevator buttons with hands, I hit them with the point of a car key. I don't decon. my plague vehicle as time will do that given I am the only one who uses it and sufficient time is allowed to pass to kill virus on its surfaces. I so far have not decontaminated my glasses, cards, belt and keys. I put them in isolation to allow time to do it before going out again, the longer the number of days the better. If I had to reuse them quickly they would need the alcohol wipe down. I may start doing that anyway, but every time you touch something possibly contaminated, it means more hand scrubbing.
If you wear glasses make sure they are adjusted correctly because if not they will move around and slide down your nose and you will touch your face. When out I try to maintain the recommended 6 foot distance from other people.

One of my friends is a retired RN and she tells me that she will kick my butt if I go out again, other than for critical medical care, (chemo drugs etc). I want some cash on hand and had to negotiate with her going later at night to a bank cash machine when no one is around, not touching the door or cash machine directly, gloves or disposable paper towels etc. and full decon. when I get home and cash will need time decon. She says what I have now is what I have and it is a lot, but when I start to run out of critical things down the road, she will bring them to me and leave them in a box outside the door for the decon. process.
 
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Once you have made the indoor of your house a clean zone you're good, pretty much doing the same thing,

*Everything that comes from outside shopping and whatever gets a full wipe down, groceries, clothing the person wore gets removed and washed

*Mail goes in a bag for 3 days

*instead of paper towel usage all the time everyone has there own dish towel for the day then wash

*I shop mostly at small stores, butchers, small grocery stores which have way less traffic and i went early so barely anyone in the store

*all veg we let it sit for three days just incase there's something on it, yes can cook it off but raw stuff and handled by who knows

*The wiping down of stuff and watching your steps is fine, it's something we can control but the biggest thing that i worry is the air, you can't
see it, not enough solid information on how far it travels in the air, if it last 3 hours in the air

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ON THESE TIMES, THERE IS AN OVERLOAD OF INFO OUT THERE, MOST I KNOW ARE IN THIS BALL PARK
Screen Shot 2020-03-20 at 11.26.32 AM.png
 
Given my extreme vulnerability to this plague, in the few times I have gone out in the last month (medical appointments, lab tests, supplies and food runs and one fishing trip) I drive the same vehicle and have what I call my plague suit except for fishing. It consists of a light easy to wash blue jean jacket, long sleeve tee shirt and blue jean and runners. When I return home and the supplies are in and the door closed I wash my hand and then alcohol them. Then put the fresh and frozen food away. I may have to consider some sort of decontamination process as per Pineapple Express for fresh or frozen food. All other food and supplies go into the temp. storage area, for time to decontaminate them and will not be touched again for a week or two. The plague suit goes in the washing machine with lots of soap and bleach and then the dryer on hot, as the virus does not like that kind of heat. Alcohol wipes for the lid etc.The shoes are used only for outings and isolated for time decon. Then its a 2nd major hand washing and alcohol hand spray followed by a shower with lots of soap and water for the whole body decon.

When shopping it is credit card only and preferably tap. Cash is the perfect vector for spreading the virus from person to person. No wallet, take pnly the plastic cards you need for the trip in a small zip lock bag. Start up a new key chain with only the keys needed when going out. I have one set of glasses that are only used when I go out. I never touch keypads or elevator buttons with hands, I hit them with the point of a car key. I don't decon. my plague vehicle as time will do that given I am the only one who uses it and sufficient time is allowed to pass to kill virus on its surfaces. I so far have not decontaminated my glasses, cards, belt and keys. I put them in isolation to allow time to do it before going out again, the longer the number of days the better. If I had to reuse them quickly they would need the alcohol wipe down. I may start doing that anyway, but every time you touch something possibly contaminated, it means more hand scrubbing.
If you wear glasses make sure they are adjusted correctly because if not they will move around and slide down your nose and you will touch your face. When out I try to maintain the recommended 6 foot distance from other people.

One of my friends is a retired RN and she tells me that she will kick my butt if I go out again, other than for critical medical care, (chemo drugs etc). I want some cash on hand and had to negotiate with her going later at night to a bank cash machine when no one is around, not touching the door or cash machine directly, gloves or disposable paper towels etc. and full decon. when I get home and cash will need time decon. She says what I have now is what I have and it is a lot, but when I start to run out of critical things down the road, she will bring them to me and leave them in a box outside the door for the decon. process.
Some great ideas there RF. I will be adopting your key and card idea.
 
Once you have made the indoor of your house a clean zone you're good, pretty much doing the same thing,

*Everything that comes from outside shopping and whatever gets a full wipe down, groceries, clothing the person wore gets removed and washed

*Mail goes in a bag for 3 days

*instead of paper towel usage all the time everyone has there own dish towel for the day then wash

*I shop mostly at small stores, butchers, small grocery stores which have way less traffic and i went early so barely anyone in the store

*all veg we let it sit for three days just incase there's something on it, yes can cook it off but raw stuff and handled by who knows

*The wiping down of stuff and watching your steps is fine, it's something we can control but the biggest thing that i worry is the air, you can't
see it, not enough solid information on how far it travels in the air, if it last 3 hours in the air

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ON THESE TIMES, THERE IS AN OVERLOAD OF INFO OUT THERE, MOST I KNOW ARE IN THIS BALL PARK
View attachment 51390

This is a good primer on how long it lasts:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200317-covid-19-how-long-does-the-coronavirus-last-on-surfaces

I have to say this virus is so new that even the Dr's and experts are all over the place when it comes to how long it lasts on surfaces. I think they don't really know yet with accuracy and the research is just beginning. I have heard widely different numbers from them and much of it seems to be somewhat educated guess work and extrapolation. The first talking head expert on TV I heard said that information so far is 2 hours on copper and stainless steel and longer on surfaces like cardboard and plastic. I have heard or read 4 hours for copper a number of times and that we should be OK after a couple of days for everything else. Copper seems to be the surface it likes the least which does not surprise me since it is toxic and we have been using it, or its sulfate on boat bottoms to kill things for hundreds of years.

Some think it may be similar to Norovirus which I have heard is very long lived and SARS and MERS are up to 9 days on hard surfaces. There is information that some Corona viruses may live up to 28 days. My understanding is that COVID-19 is robust and well armored with an outer coating of protein and lipeds (fat molecules). It uses the protein to attack cells but the lipids are armor to make it hard to kill. My guess is that hand washing with a strong detergent soap helps strip away its hard fat armor. There seems to be a lot of factors that may effect how long it lives such as UV sunlight and heat. It may live a lot longer on plastic in a dark cool car than it does on the same plastic baking in a car in the hot sun. So it seems to me it MAY live somewhere between a few hours to a few weeks and may vary significantly depending on many factors. I wonder about things like will it live, and if so for how long, when it is frozen on food.

If you want to let time kill it, I am going with one to two weeks, the longer the surface is not touched with your hands the better. Better to be over than under until the fog of war with it clears.
 
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I completely changed my shopping habits. Once a week groceries me going only, and at our local smaller grocery stores. First thing is morning with hardly any people around.

I barred costco and any big stores for now. My wife is high risk with her MS , so we can't take chances.

No cash just debit.
 
Some great ideas there RF. I will be adopting your key and card idea.
I agree BN - some great ideas/recommendations from Rockfish. One of the reasons I find this forum so valuable - many smart people contributing what they know ... :)
 
I think this is an important second thread on the situation. The intent is to share ideas so we as individuals and groups can move forward aggressively on containing the virus.

Im a single person so I have its fairly easy although it is still life altering.

Ive developed 2 Walls of disinfection.

1 is my door step where I have a foot bath with bleach.

The other is my truck.

In My truck I carry a thermos of hot soapy water with a bit of bleach.

I use the foot bath when going in and out of my front door.

This is not a time for devision among Canadians it is at time for unity.

Socially isolate, reach out to friends family and others and see if they are ok. Help a neighbour. Share your ideas to assist in all aspects of our society during this difficult time.

On a positive note I do see some good coming of this. We as a country finally have an issue that we can all stand up for as one united country.

I'm very interested to hear what others are doing.
Great post Birdsnest. Just remember to change out the foot bath and soapy solutions daily as diluted bleach solutions break down fairly rapidly, especially in sunlight. Sunlight itself is a disinfectant.
 
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Another place to keep in mind is gas stations. Read an article the other day about how dirty they are and how the virus is spread via gas pumps. The pin pads and the nozzle handles are never cleaned. Just think how many people touch them in a day?

Stay safe and healthy
 
Filled my boat with marked gas yesterday......had to get it unlocked but other than that guys that work there won't touch anything. Keep sanitizer in my truck so had a pretty extensive wipe down after.
 
Don't forget if walking the dog not to let people pet your pooch. I am keeping mine away from contact with other dogs as who knows what may be on their coat.
 
Apparently some of the big grocery stores no longer want you bringing the reusable bags and will give you free plastic bags. The reusable ones are now viewed as dangerous for virus contamination and spreading the virus.
 
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Some great way to reduce the spread of this virus, I am keeping my work gear in my shop, and disinfecting my crane daily with disinfectant wipes, all paperwork I need signatures on for deliveries I sign for the customer, I am wearing a respirator while running my crane on busy construction sites, I am wearing blue nitrile gloves the minute I get out of the truck at work till I get back into it for the ride home. Some of my co_workers think I am over reacting but having a 1 year old at home makes me think I a not over reacting. I am also doing all the shopping one day a week and keeping my wife and child isolated as much as possible. Stay safe out their fella's lets all get thru this together safe n sound.
 
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