Advice on using your car amid coronavirus
Do some of our members need to get food in for aged relatives who are selfisolating? I certainly got one big shop in for my mum, though she is managing to get local people to top her up since.
All we can do, I think, is give people all the information we can and let them make the judgements for themselves.
Trying to find out the information was tricky, not because there is not enough out there but rather because there is too much and not all is reliable. Here’s what I have learned. Firstly, being in a car with someone who is not part of your household is not a good idea. We know that people can transmit the virus even when they have no symptoms. Secondly, virus particles can stay in the air for several hours and on some surfaces for up to nine days! Their favourite surface is plastic. This means that driving a car someone else has driven should be done with care.
I recommend opening the doors and airing the car out for a few minutes before getting in; then wiping down surfaces and anything that might have been handled (handles, switches, seatbelt buckles etc).
Now many kinds of surface wipes are not wholly effective, though they do have some effect. So next we recommend you wear gloves and we provide disposable ones.
We also have alcohol based hand wipes in the cars. Alcohol is effective against the virus but it takes time so you need to wipe your hands for a while – ideally more than the 20 seconds recommended for washing with soap and water, which is more effective.
Hand wipes and disposable gloves are handy for us all to have in our cars right now, especially for when you have to get out of the car.
Fuel stations are places you might want to be careful, as many hands will have touched the pumps before you.
Toilets are particularly hazardous.
Taps are touched by many and stainless steel is the virus’s second favourite surface.
I have read how diarrhoea can be one of the symptoms of coronavirus and that virus particles from this get very easily into the air.
So avoid public toilets if you can or be very careful if you can’t.
Take care out there. Stay at home if you can.