Avoiding coronavirus while grocery shopping

When you enter the store, the experts recommend cleaning the supermarket cart or basket handle with a disinfectant wipe (some stores provide these for free, but availability isn't

guaranteed, so bring wipes with you). As for handling food packages and produce as you shop? “We have no evidence at all that food or food packaging are transmission vectors that we consider

to be risky in this outbreak,” Chapman says, meaning you can touch goods and fill your cart as you normally would — being careful to avoid touching your mask, eyes, or other uncovered parts

of your face for the entirety of your errand. CDC GUIDELINES FOR GROCERY SHOPPERS * Only shop in person when you absolutely need to. * Avoid shopping if you are sick. * Stay at least 6 feet

away from others. * Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face covering. * Shop during off-peak hours or during special hours for high-risk people (65 or older, and those with serious

underlying medical conditions). * Disinfect shopping cart with wipes if available. * Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth. * Use touchless payment if available. * Use hand sanitizer right

after paying with cash or touching a keypad. * Use hand sanitizer after leaving store, then wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at home. Source: Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention According to the CDC, “It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth,

nose or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.” So more important than worrying about food packaging, Chapman says, is maintaining distance from

others, a consideration that also arises at checkout. Choosing between self-checkout or a cashier lane presents what he calls a “risk-risk tradeoff,” because each option poses its own

hazards: Self-checkout allows you to avoid face-to-face contact with a cashier, but you'll have to touch parts of the kiosk that many shoppers have touched before you. Some stores and

states have banned reusable shopping bags, or require that customers who bring their own bags use the self-checkout option. Chapman notes that there is no observed link between reusable bags

and the spread of COVID-19, but as a best practice, shoppers can clean and disinfect bags at home after use.  Bottom line? Choose the checkout option you're comfortable with. And in

either case, both experts say to use a credit or debit card — not cash — when it's time to pay because the former can be safely wiped down with a disinfectant wipe after use (and even

in a cashier lane, you'll likely be able to insert your own card into the card reader — bypassing a handoff of bills or coins). Once you exit the store, Chapman and McKoy advise

cleaning your hands with a hand sanitizer containing at least 60 percent alcohol, being sure to do this before getting into your vehicle if you're traveling by car. AT HOME Once you get

in the door, McKoy says to put down any shopping bags or goods on the floor and walk “straight to the sink” to wash your hands. After that, you can put groceries or other supplies away,

after which both experts advise another round of handwashing.