Is sanitizing shopping carts important?

[Snazzylass]

10 days since my last venture out, so it was time to restock! Still the tent outside and floor marking at Walmart. A Kroger employee madly wiping down carts there.

Costco? Not so much. Hmm...surprised by that. Perhaps it's due to our state lifting their SAH orders? Carts were taken from the parking lots and directly shoved back into the store for the next shopped to use. No waiting in line to get in either. BAU - business as usual.

Expect they do continue to post that everyone is required to wear a mask. Thoughts?

 

[am1]

Better to have a spray system I had seen years ago in southern Mass.

 

[plpgma]

As with pretty much everything else in our lives -- we need to take personal responsibility and do our own sanitizing, etc. So, whenever we do go out to shop -- we simply make sure we're prepared to do what we need to keep ourselves safe.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I haven't been inside a Costco since early March before the SIP. At that time our Costco was not offering wipes or wiping them down. Other Costco's I hear offered wipes or have been wiping down. They may have changed their practices recently.

Protocols vary widely which depends on the store policy, state and county.

Best to carry your own wipes in a plastic bag and wipe them down in case they are not doing it. That way you know you are protected.

 

[WVBaker]

Is sanitizing anything you may come into contact with, in the outside world important? Just imagine all the articles and surfaces you touch every day.

 

[clifffaith]

Our TJ's just put up a kiosk near the main cart area at the front door. Pull down wipes above, trash can below, made to look like a tiki hut. My sanitizing stops and ends at the cart handle, others do a more thorough wipe down.

 

[Passepartout]

Good plan to slip a few wipes into a zip lock for your own peace of mind. - and USE THEM.

DW and I discussed yesterday, because our state is opening more and more venues- because we are in the high risk group, we are responsible for our own well being. We have to interact with people who are much more free- and we will be at risk of those our contacts interact with.

I recalled a caution from the early days of the (very scary) AIDS epidemic, but won't bring it up here.

Jim

 

[cman]

Our Costco sanitizes every cart.

 

[Snazzylass]

Our TJ's just put up a kiosk near the main cart area at the front door. Pull down wipes above, trash can below, made to look like a tiki hut. My sanitizing stops and ends at the cart handle, others do a more thorough wipe down.

Right! TJ's so cute! They just weren't in my rotation yesterday. They have taken this very seriously.

Interesting that the sanitizing wipes are SOP at Kroger and WM and TJ's and really just about every grocery....except Costco. I was totally caught off guard sine that was not the protocol for the past 6 weeks.

I was so irked, I ripped off my mask. Seriously, I did not open my mouth once while inside except to help another shopper who asked me. I was the only one without a mask and the gal at the exit who checks receipts applauded me. Kinda over this some of this nonsense. I agree it is about personal responsibility.

 

[geekette]

It's not an issue for me one way or another. Until I am home and washed, my hands aren't going on my person, just the stuff. The cart is not the last thing I will touch there, and I'll touch it after I touch other stuff, so, any sanitizing at the start ends up quickly not mattering.

 

[pedro47]

Costco in area sanitizer every shopping cart before you enter the building and if you do not have a mask. They will give you one.

 

[geist1223]

We carry a package of sanitizing wipes and gloves in each vehicle. We take a sanitizing wipe with us for the grocery kart and have gloves on.

 

[Luanne]

We carry a package of sanitizing wipes and gloves in each vehicle. We take a sanitizing wipe with us for the grocery kart and have gloves on.

If we could get sanitizing wipes we'd take them with us.

 

[geist1223]

If we could get sanitizing wipes we'd take them with us.

They have had them at our Costco the past 2 trips over 3 weeks.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

10 days since my last venture out, so it was time to restock! Still the tent outside and floor marking at Walmart. A Kroger employee madly wiping down carts there.

Costco? Not so much. Hmm...surprised by that. Perhaps it's due to our state lifting their SAH orders? Carts were taken from the parking lots and directly shoved back into the store for the next shopped to use. No waiting in line to get in either. BAU - business as usual.

Expect they do continue to post that everyone is required to wear a mask. Thoughts?

Went to Costco yesterday for my 2 week stock up. All of the lines were gone to get in. Just walked in, the person checked my Costco card and it was business as usual. I was surprised at how many people were in the store.

 

[elaine]

When they were in short supply, I made my own wipes--paper towel squirted with lysol cleaner in baggie. I used to wipe down outside dining table, paper cups, etc. at fast food place in mid-March when getting DD's dorm stuff out--good thing, next week they announced Covid outbreak there.

 

[Luanne]

They have had them at our Costco the past 2 trips over 3 weeks.

We haven't been in a Costco since January. I have no desire to drive an hour, have to wait in line to shop. I also don't want to travel to the county where the closest Costco is because they have a much higher rate of COVID-19. So we've been ordering from Costco online, and you can't get any cleaning products online. They have also been out of stock in the stores we shop at.

 

[Passepartout]

They have also been out of stock in the stores we shop at.

Luanne, they've had tons of Lysol and/or Clorox wipes at the home centers. Try Lowe's, HD, or even True Value. Sometimes you have to think outside the (big) box.

 

[Luanne]

Luanne, they've had tons of Lysol and/or Clorox wipes at the home centers. Try Lowe's, HD, or even True Value. Sometimes you have to think outside the (big) box.

Dh is the one who does the shopping. Whenever he has been anywhere that might carry cleaning supplies he checks. He's not real anxious to go in to Home Depot or Lowe's. We have one container of wipes that we're "hoarding", which means we hardly ever use them. We carry hand sanitizer (that dh bought from a distillery) in our cars and we've also been using that to wipe down our kitchen counter.

 

[b2bailey]

Right! TJ's so cute! They just weren't in my rotation yesterday. They have taken this very seriously.

Interesting that the sanitizing wipes are SOP at Kroger and WM and TJ's and really just about every grocery....except Costco. I was totally caught off guard sine that was not the protocol for the past 6 weeks.

I was so irked, I ripped off my mask. Seriously, I did not open my mouth once while inside except to help another shopper who asked me. I was the only one without a mask and the gal at the exit who checks receipts applauded me. Kinda over this some of this nonsense. I agree it is about personal responsibility.

Have to admit the end of your story was a surprise twist. If I read it correctly, you were so bothered by Costco not sanitizing their carts that you chose to go maskless amongst most who were wearing masks?

 

[Luanne]

Right! TJ's so cute! They just weren't in my rotation yesterday. They have taken this very seriously.

Interesting that the sanitizing wipes are SOP at Kroger and WM and TJ's and really just about every grocery....except Costco. I was totally caught off guard sine that was not the protocol for the past 6 weeks.

I was so irked, I ripped off my mask. Seriously, I did not open my mouth once while inside except to help another shopper who asked me. I was the only one without a mask and the gal at the exit who checks receipts applauded me. Kinda over this some of this nonsense. I agree it is about personal responsibility.

I must say I am appalled. More so at the Costco employee who was applauding someone for not wearing a mask.

 

[Snazzylass]

Have to admit the end of your story was a surprise twist. If I read it correctly, you were so bothered by Costco not sanitizing their carts that you chose to go maskless amongst most who were wearing masks?

Correct. Shopping carts have always been known to be one of the dirtiest, germiest things you can touch. When I lived in the Midwest, I'd regularly leave my stretchy gloves on while shopping. While, I've read lots of news articles about gloves and masks, I do not recall any studies being cited.

I am over 60 but would not consider myself in a high risk category. On the other hand, I contracted at least 4 viruses this season - I'm certain the last one was from the sign of peace in church. I'd watched the kid sniffle and cough and blow his nose, but I got so caught up in the moment and shaking every other family member's hand. Before we were all sent home, there were co-workers diagnosed with COVID19. At least a couple who were certain they had it, I hugged - before I later learned this, of course.

I went to 4 stores yesterday. Only one asked me to wear a mask. If I am the only person is the building without one, what is the danger to everyone else? As I mentioned, I never opened my mouth. I don't touch my face. Just not sure about all this. What was the risk in the other 3 stores?

At one point, we were told NOT to wear masks and I am still reading that it is not a good idea. There's lots of criticism about wearing gloves, but where is the research?

Aren't some of us going to get this virus eventually? Are we all going to be able to avoid it?

 

[Cornell]

My focus tends to be on hand washing (not in an OCD kind of way) than sanitizing surfaces. Wash hands thoroughly after being in a store or in a setting where I'm touching anything. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Big Matt]

I was so irked, I ripped off my mask. Seriously, I did not open my mouth once while inside except to help another shopper who asked me. I was the only one without a mask and the gal at the exit who checks receipts applauded me. Kinda over this some of this nonsense. I agree it is about personal responsibility.

Rule breaker

 

[TravelTime]

I am not sanitizing shopping carts or cleaning groceries and packages that come into our home. I wash my hands thoroughly when I come home, keep 6’ away from people and where a mask when shopping. I have done a really good job of minimizing my trips out for essential items so I really do not come in contact with many people. I did buy hand sanitizer for the first time in my life when I found it recently at Target and use it appropriately. I am trying to maintain a reasonable sense of normalcy during the pandemic with reasonable hygiene. If I start going out more as we open up, I will probably carry hand sanitizer with me to sanitize my hands while out if I go out for too long. Besides that, I realize that living life is a risk. I am doing my best in a reasonable manner as recommended by the health experts. I will hope if I get Covid that I do not become seriously ill. If I have any signs of illness, I will quarantine myslef.