Coronavirus: Virology professor washes his grocery deliveries in battle against Covid-19

Emeritus professor Bert Rima, 73, told the News Letter that the virus can survive for surprisingly long periods of time on various surfaces.

He said the best data from the New England Journal of Medicine shows that an infectious dose of the virus is halved in strength in six hours if placed on plastic, on cardboard it is halved in three hours, and on copper less than an hour.

So depending on the initial dose it could hang around for days on plastic and steel. The best way is to give the groceries left on your door step a wash with soapy water if it is covered in plastic.

“That is actually what I have started to do today. But in general it may be best to transfer items into home containers and discard the packaging material it came in. This would certainly reduce the exposure and reduce potential infectious doses.

“Don’t forget that it is probably impossible to have no exposure during the next 12 weeks but it is important to try to reduce the level of infectious material by taking such precautions.”

He thinks there is much less risk from the virus via normal mail or parcels, but still takes precautions.

“I think that certainly one’s chance of catching coronavirus from the mail or parcels is very much smaller than that from other sources. But if  your mail deliverer is walking round and shedding virus on your letter just before putting it in your mail box then of course the chances are a lot higher. I handle my own mail as follows. I read it and either file it away or throw it away in the recycling. Then I wash my hands.”