The Week in Ideas: Food Edition

The Washington Post is running periodic articles that they say are meant to be "constructive" for dealing with issues during the coronavirus crisis -- pieces that many readers will find "helpful and reassuring".  Also, they are making the articles free to everyone on their website, which usually requires a subscription.  They are putting the pieces under the heading of "The Week in Ideas."

This one is on a topic that I thought would be of particular interest to everyone on a regular basis.  It's about how to handle groceries and delivery bags. 

It's written by Joseph G. Allen, who is an assistant professor of exposure and assessment science, and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  He not only gives strong and easy suggestions on how to deal with the issue, but makes clear up front:  "The risk is low."  And then adds why, adding, "Let me explain."

He writes --

"First, disease transmission from inanimate surfaces is real, so I don’t want to minimize that. It’s something we have known for a long time; as early as the 1500s, infected surfaces were thought of as “seeds of disease,” able to transfer disease from one person to another.  In that NEJM study [New England Journal of Medicine], here's the finding that is grabbing headlines.  The coronavirus that causes covid-19 "was detectable...up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel."The key word here is "detectable."Yes, the virus can be detected on some surfaces for up to a day, but the reality is that the levels drop off quickly. For example, the article shows that the virus’s half-life on stainless steel and plastic was 5.6 hours and 6.8 hours, respectively. (Half-life is how long it takes the viral concentration to decrease by half, then half of that half, and so on until it’s gone.)

Professor Allen then goes on to explain in clear detail what this all means for making the risk "low" -- and then adds step-by-step actions you can take if you are nonetheless concerned and want to be even more careful.

You can read the full article here.