Coronavirus COVID-19 Frenzy and Food Safety

There has been serious concern about Coronavirus in the media, which has also contributed to confusion among the populations. Yes, COVID-19 is a virus and it’s deadly. However, it’s not the first or the last deadly virus.

You might be wondering what the relationship is between food safety and coronavirus. In fact, there are a couple of relationships.

Let me explain that!

If a food production worker has COVID-19 and handles food, there’s a risk of transmission. The same applies to people who work in cafes, restaurants, where the food is being cooked and served to you.

If anyone who is infected with the virus is working in a grocery store and handling food, they may also spread the virus by touching the products, shelves, money, doorknobs, etc.

Yes! I said money! Should you be worried about money?

Sure, you ought to! But it is not limited to money as you already might know.

Any surface contaminated by an infected person is a possible source of transmission. Does that mean that we need to separate ourselves from the outside world?

Not, of course!

There’s one thing you can do to protect you from having coronavirus. Yeah, just one simple thing! Not complicated at all, and everybody can do it!

Okay, you guessed it right! Good old GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES!

Let me elaborate on that!

We all know what “hygiene” means right?

It’s a word derived from Greek and passed over to Latin and then French as “hygiene”. It simply means, conditions and practices of cleanliness leading to health. Very clear, isn’t it?

You can keep yourself safe by simply;

– washing your hands before touching all over the house after returning home,

– cleaning your work surfaces (such as your desk, bench, computer, or whatever it might be) more frequently than usual,

– using wet wipes to clean the packaged foods, boxes, bottles, and even your hands after touching money,

– and repeating these steps over and over!

As of now, there is no reported incident of Coronavirus being transmitted from food sources, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Especially since it takes a while to show signs of illness, we need to be more vigilant, conscious and clean.

If you’re still worried, you might want to check out the online course published by the World Health Organization called Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: methods for detection, prevention, response and control