As the COVID-19 pandemic is prolonged, the virus continues to be prevalent and the transmission susceptibilities of daily engagements could reportedly become an ongoing problem. But a study in Canada could help shoppers feel less burdened upon shopping at the grocery store.
According to a recent study at the University of Guelph that made an assessment of COVID-19 exposure from high-touch surfaces in grocery stores, the risk is low if advised cleaning protocols and social distancing guidelines and adhered to.
The University of Guelph scientists evaluated the risk of COVID-19 exposure from high-touch surfaces in grocery stores. (Photo: University of Guelph)
Negative Result
The university stated that a group of scientists swabbed hundreds of high-contact surfaces in grocery stores. The group was spearheaded by PhD student Maleeka Singh and Department of Food Science Professor Maria Corradini. None of the surfaces tested positive for the coronavirus. They tested from baskets and carts to the final checkout.
Result of Complying to Safety Measures
According to Corradini, “We believe that cleaning and disinfecting contact surfaces along with wearing masks significantly minimize the risk of transmission from surfaces in grocery stores to humans,” reported Global News. She remarked the imposed guidelines are working.
What Are Those Measures?
Such measures dictate wearing face masks, limiting the number of individuals in a grocery store, and sanitation guidelines that either clean off the novel coronavirus or prevent it from being transmitted onto surfaces.
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Authors of the Study
The study was newly published in the journal “Current Research in Food Science.” Its co-authors involved and Drs. Robert Hanner and Steven Newmaster, who are Department of Integrative Biology professors, and Dr. Lawrence Goodridge, a Department of Food Science professor. The group commenced their study in 2020 briefly following the issuing of research that alluded SARS-CoV-2 can survive for hours or days on surfaces in environments including rooms of patients and hospital wards, reported the University of Guelph.
How Does COVID-19 Spread?
SARS-CoV-2 basically becomes prevalent through respiratory droplets, direct personal contact, and bodily fluids. New evidence proposes that indirect transmission or becoming infected by touching inanimate surfaces or objects that have come into contact with the virus and then touching the nose, eyes, or mouth, is low but probable. Concerns regarding the transmission were directed towards spaces that the public could remain to be able to visit, including retail food stores, reported The Conversation.
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