How to safely shop in galleries?

From May 4, shops in galleries are open again. How to prepare for a visit to the gallery and how to behave while shopping to ensure the safety of yourself and other buyers and reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus transmission?

1. Expert: – A 30 minute shopping trip should be relatively safe if you wear a mask, keep your distance and avoid touching your face
2. Try to plan your shopping in such a way as to spend as little time in the gallery as possible
3. You can find more up-to-date information on the TvoiLokony home page

Put on the mask and disinfect your hands

In Poland, it is obligatory to wear protective masks in public spaces, so we should remember about them when shopping. It is important that the mask is put on correctly, i.e. it covers the nose and mouth. If you are planning longer shopping, it is worth taking the second mask for a change, in case the former becomes wet.

— A 30-minute shopping trip should be relatively safe if you wear a mask, keep your distance and avoid touching your face – said Dr. Lindsay Marr, one of the leading experts in the field of airborne diseases, in an interview with the New York Times.

Disinfect your hands before entering and leaving the store. Thanks to this, you will limit the possibility of transmitting pathogens to your hands. Avoid touching your faceespecially around the mouth and nose. Try not to touch up the mask if you have uninfected hands.

Also take wipes soaked in an alcohol-based preparation with you. You can use them to wipe the basket in the store. Usually, carts and baskets are disinfected on an ongoing basis by store employees, but if there are crowds in the store, they may not be able to react in time.

“Avoid people without a face mask and don’t spend more than 15 minutes around other people,” epidemiologist Lisa Lee, a Virginia Tech professor in Blacksburg, Virginia, told CBC News and a former clerk at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

Make a list before going to the store and shop at certain times

During an epidemic, it is best to limit staying in crowded places, which will undoubtedly be the reopened shopping center. Before going to the store, it is worth preparing a list of things that you want to buy, preferably divided into specific stores. Thanks to this, we will avoid unnecessary contacts with other people, as well as with surfaces.

It is worth going shopping on a weekday, in the morning, when most of the people are usually at work.

“People who are at high risk of serious complications from COVID-19 infection should shop when there are no crowds,” explains Dr. Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist.

See also: Risk factors for the severity and mortality of COVID-19. review of the literature

Avoid visiting a lot of stores

The shopping list will make it easier to navigate through the gallery and save us from visiting stores just to see new products or promotions. Try to buy as many products as possible in one store. Importantly, says Lindey Marr, “in larger stores, the risk of [contamination] is lower because people are separated from each other. Larger, more modern buildings usually also have better ventilation systems ».

Do not use fitting rooms and elevators

Some clothing stores closed their fitting rooms, and in return offered a simplified return policy. It is worth taking advantage of this and taking clothes to try on at home.

Also, avoid using elevators. It’s harder to keep a physical distance in themand they are poorly ventilated. Microorganisms accumulate on the handrails and buttons of the elevator, which are a potential hazard, especially if we transfer them from our hands to our face.

Bottom line: wear a mask, avoid the crowds, sanitize your hands, and only spend as much time in the gallery as is necessary for shopping.

The editorial board recommends:

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2. Doctor: This is where infections most often occur
3. One mask on top of the other? We check if it makes sense

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