Shopping safely during the current Covid-19 restrictions

Is it safe to go shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have a lot of questions about how to shop safely. First of all, you should not leave your house to shop if you have any of the symptoms of coronavirus or if you are over 70 or in a medically-vulnerable group.

If you do go out to shop, you should try to shop in stores that have introduced precautionary measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. Things to look out for include:

Staff controlling the entry and exit of customers to limit overcrowding

Facilities available to clean and sanitise trolleys and baskets between use

Provision of hand sanitisers (with a minimum alcohol content of 60+%) at entrances and exits

Clear marking on floors to help customers keep to physical distancing measures

Separate shopping times for vulnerable and older people

Some tips when shopping are:

Take your own shopping bags and, if possible, put items directly into the bags and avoid contact with baskets or trolleys.

Sanitise your hands when you enter the store, ideally with your own sanitiser or, if available, that provided by the store.

If using a basket or trolley to shop, sanitise its handle. It is not recommended that you wear disposable gloves as they can give you a false sense of security and your hands can get contaminated when you take them off.

When you get home you should: Immediately wash your hands.

Put your shopping away as normal. You should always put away your shopping as soon as you get home, especially perishable foods which must be stored in the fridge or freezer.

It is not necessary to sanitise the outside of food packaging. While there is some evidence that the virus can survive on hard surfaces, the risk from handling food packing is very low and there is no evidence that the illness can be transmitted in this way.

Wash your hands again after you have put your shopping bags away. It is not essential to sanitise surfaces or shopping bags, but if you do, follow the manufacturer’s instructions about how much time is needed before wiping the sanitiser off.

Safefood has published useful guidance on how to shop safely for groceries during the COVID-19 emergency period and you can vis