4 ms·

> I also think travelling by car is a safer option, both for me and others around me. I thought about it because I'll need to drive a long drive in two days (a

> I also think travelling by car is a safer option, both for me and others around me. I thought about it because I'll need to drive a long drive in two days (across France). I'm taking throwaway gloves with me... Inside the car I'll be fine (and people outside the car too) but... A gas station has to be one of the riskiest place to catch the virus because you are forced to touch the gas pump. And that's the same for everybody who just filled his car. Same with electric chargers for EVs. Anyone with the virus would cough, while driving, and the virus would be on one of his hand. Then that person would fill the car. Then the virus would stay there for hours? It's a combination of two things: a great many people passing there and all these people being forced to touch something hundreds of people recently touched too. Hence the throwaway gloves. Not to mention that if anyone in a car has the virus, it's likely that the one driving may have it on its hands (even if he's not infected ?). I'm very mindful not to touch anything outside the house unless when I'm buying groceries (but at the grocery store when I pick, say, a thuna can, hopefully there haven't been a hundred people touching that on thuna can in the last x hours). At the gas station I know I'll have no choice.

jessriedel 7y ago
Gas stations are open air (high circulation) with only a small number of people present at a time. Wash/sanitize your hands after using the pump/buttons and there's not much reason to think it's dangerous.
yiyus 7y ago
> A gas station has to be one of the riskiest place to catch the virus When talking about travelling options, the alternatives are trains and buses. In a train or bus station, the volume of people is several orders of magnitude larger, and you have to be in a confined space with many people for a long amount of time. There is no risk zero option if you need to travel, but I agree with the original comment that travelling by car looks like the safest one.
gdubs 7y ago
Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in your car. Possibly disinfectant wipes to sanitize your car’s surfaces frequently. Break the habit of flipping through your phone out in public, or start washing your phone frequently. When you touch public objects and then use your phone, your putting germs onto a glass surface where they can last for hours and studies show that phone screens get quite dirty. Remember: the goal for the majority of people is to help slow the spread of this to protect the vulnerable. Good hygiene goes a long way.
lacker 7y ago
I think you could get a paper towel and use that to cover your hand while you operate the gas pump. Or your sleeve. Yeah people might look at you like you’re paranoid. Tell them that only the paranoid survive.
LandR 7y ago
I know here most gas stations have a dispenser of disposable gloves you can use at the pump. Even with no virus kicking around holding a fuel pump is horrible, your hand stinks afterwards!
cousin_it 7y ago
Not throwaway gloves. Carry a pack of disinfecting wipes. Whenever you're about to touch a public surface (gas pump, handrail, door handle, elevator button, touchscreen...) wipe it first. That way you protect yourself, protect the people who come after you, your hands get disinfected many times a day, and anyone who sees you will pick up the idea.
addandsubtract 7y ago
SARS-CoV-2 has a viral envelope, which reduces the transmission possibility via objects[0]: "The lipid bilayer envelope of these viruses is relatively sensitive to desiccation, heat, and detergents, therefore these viruses are easier to sterilize than non-enveloped viruses, have limited survival outside host environments, and typically must transfer directly from host to host." [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_envelope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_envelope
- swebs 7y ago
  Corona viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 9 days. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120300463/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019567012...

jessriedel 7y ago

Gas stations are open air (high circulation) with only a small number of people present at a time. Wash/sanitize your hands after using the pump/buttons and there's not much reason to think it's dangerous.

yiyus 7y ago

> A gas station has to be one of the riskiest place to catch the virus When talking about travelling options, the alternatives are trains and buses. In a train or bus station, the volume of people is several orders of magnitude larger, and you have to be in a confined space with many people for a long amount of time. There is no risk zero option if you need to travel, but I agree with the original comment that travelling by car looks like the safest one.

gdubs 7y ago

Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in your car. Possibly disinfectant wipes to sanitize your car’s surfaces frequently. Break the habit of flipping through your phone out in public, or start washing your phone frequently. When you touch public objects and then use your phone, your putting germs onto a glass surface where they can last for hours and studies show that phone screens get quite dirty. Remember: the goal for the majority of people is to help slow the spread of this to protect the vulnerable. Good hygiene goes a long way.

lacker 7y ago

I think you could get a paper towel and use that to cover your hand while you operate the gas pump. Or your sleeve. Yeah people might look at you like you’re paranoid. Tell them that only the paranoid survive.

LandR 7y ago

I know here most gas stations have a dispenser of disposable gloves you can use at the pump. Even with no virus kicking around holding a fuel pump is horrible, your hand stinks afterwards!

cousin_it 7y ago

Not throwaway gloves. Carry a pack of disinfecting wipes. Whenever you're about to touch a public surface (gas pump, handrail, door handle, elevator button, touchscreen...) wipe it first. That way you protect yourself, protect the people who come after you, your hands get disinfected many times a day, and anyone who sees you will pick up the idea.

addandsubtract 7y ago

SARS-CoV-2 has a viral envelope, which reduces the transmission possibility via objects[0]: "The lipid bilayer envelope of these viruses is relatively sensitive to desiccation, heat, and detergents, therefore these viruses are easier to sterilize than non-enveloped viruses, have limited survival outside host environments, and typically must transfer directly from host to host." [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_envelope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_envelope

swebs 7y ago
Corona viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 9 days. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195670120300463/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019567012...