By Syed Sujeel Ahmed

As COVID 19 situation is getting grimmer in India, it becomes necessary for each one of us to be utmost cautious. Remember, a single sneeze can produce 10,000 droplets and a single cough 3,000. And each droplet carries 100s of viruses, which are visible only through Electron Microscope.

You never know who touched, sneezed or coughed on a packet of a spice, biscuit or a bottle of water, before you brought it home.

Deccan Digest has come up with the following best practices to take care when buying essential commodities to ensure maximum safety.

• Venture out of your house only in dire need of essential commodities. Don’t accompany kids. Don’t loiter around.
• After buying, when entering your house or flat, don’t touch anything including walls, lift buttons, doors or door knobs or any other thing.
• Don’t enter with your footwear inside your home or flat. Hide it at a place which is not easily reachable. Use it only after 24-48 hours.
• Keep a distance of at least 5 feet from any other person on the road or super market
• Try to give exact change when buying something or do a mobile transfer, so that you avoid taking infected currency notes or coins back. Currency notes are high risk fomites.
• Disinfect your currency notes after withdrawing from ATM with disinfectant spray.
• Wash your all packets and bottles, such as biscuit, bread, spice, milk, curd or any other. Wash  vegetables and fruits with applce cider venegar in running water and leave them in water for half and hour. You can also use liguid soap to wash grocery packets, ensure that water doesn’t seep inside packet. For vegetables that can’t be washed such as potatoes, onions keep them in sunlight without touching and use only after 48-72 hours.
• Wash the covers/bottles of medicines in running water or with liquid soap.
• Clean the area where you washed your groceries and other stuff.
• Discard the bags that you used for bringing your groceries or any other stuff, don’t reuse them.
• Avoid water bottles from outside, all sizes, use water from your home purifier.
• Avoid taking your mobiles, gadgets, watch, valet, keys to market places as they are difficult to be sanitized. Take single bike key or house key when needed and on return imediately wash them with liguid hand wash along with your hand.
• If you have spent substantial time in buying, then take bath, wash your cloths and wash the area or bucket where you washed your cloths.
• Avoid maids coming to your home. Either make them stay at your home or discontinue their services.