I don’t know about you but I normally have some germophobic tendencies. With this virus flying around, coupled with my fertile imagination, this has bloomed to a healthy mysophobia. The fear of contamination is real.
I am happy though that compulsive washing or cleaning is now considered normal. We now have so many tutorials about the proper way to wash our hands that it is common to complete this ritual very thoroughly in 20 seconds or more. Even Baby Shark is into it.
What if you need to go to the supermarket to get some fresh meat and vegetables? Call it paranoia, but I have put this off for a week that I swear I smell like a tin can now.
I have ordered things to be delivered but my success rate is about 20%. There are several reasons, all understandable: no Grab or Lalamove couriers available, companies ran out of stock, the farmers in the provinces get stopped at checkpoints and can’t get through to NCR…
Getting the delivered items into the condo is a whole production too. I follow the Department of Health (DOH) guidelines and add more steps just to make sure.
DOH Tips Before Entering the House
It’s not possible for condo dwellers to leave shoes outside apartment doors. The good thing about condo buildings though is that property management offices have installed their own safety measures like disinfecting foot bath mats at all main entrances for people to step on. I actually like giving the soles of my shoes a good soak, a sort of a prewash before the actual wash in the condo. I read somewhere that it’s better to wear the same pair of shoes every time you go out. Don’t bother with the fashion angle now.
Apartment Therapy has their own list of five things to do when you walk in the door. It’s a shorter version and more manageable, but totally unsatisfying for germophobes like me.
Safe Grocery Shopping During This Pandemic
Dr. Jeffrey VanWingen posted a video in YouTube about safe grocery shopping during this COVID-19 pandemic. It was posted on YouTube on March 24, and now it has nearly 16 million views!
I find it very useful. I’ve been trying to embed the video here but this does not seem to be possible. PLEASE CLICK HERE AND WATCH THE VIDEO.
Dr. VanWingen adapts the “sterile technique” used in surgical interventions for example, which is defined as “a set of specific practices and procedures performed to make equipment and areas free from all microorganisms.” The main purpose of the video is to teach us how to reduce risks when we go out to get our groceries.
Important Tips
- First: Do not go shopping if you have respiratory symptoms, or if you know that you have been exposed to someone with the virus, and especially not if you know that you have the virus yourself.
- Wipe down your cart when you’re in the store.
- Practice social distancing in the store as well as outside when you’re in the queue, or everywhere for that matter.
- Don’t loiter. Have a list, just pick up what you want, and put them in your cart straightaway, pay, then get out. The aim is to stay in the store for the shortest time possible because it is safer that way. Also be mindful that there are so many people outside who want to go into the store too.
- Minimize the number of times that you need to go to the supermarket. So if you are able to buy enough goods that last you for two weeks, so much the better.
- Don’t allow your seniors to do the shopping.
Online Shopping
Because of increased demand, online shopping has gotten to be so difficult. I should know. My order of veggies last March 22 has a moving delivery date. The latest date is April 1, and I hope it’s not going to be an April Fool’s joke.
It is understandable why this is happening. As mentioned, the reasons for this are as follows.
-
- There is a dearth of Grab or Lalamove couriers.
- Farmers or people who move food from the source to the cities encounter problems and blocks at checkpoints despite the statement by the Department of Agriculture Secretary that there will be a seamless, unhampered movement of food and agri products.
- Many food items are no longer available because suppliers (like restaurants) also have problems getting their ingredients.
- Because of the unexpected increase in demand (fear makes people hoard), supply has not been able to catch up.
If you are successful in getting your goods delivered, please tip the people generously. You don’t know the hoops they had to jump through to get those things to you.
If you want to share your ideas about how to keep the house clean during this pandemic, or where to buy your groceries through online shopping, or anything else which is not mentioned here but could be useful to our readers, please feel free to leave a note in the comment section below.
Check out other Homebound articles here.