My brother in law tested positive for covid two weeks ago. About the time he should have been recovered from covid 19 he got pneumonia. He will be coming home soon (been hospitalized about a week).The doctor has said that the covid danger should be gone from the home now(he lives alone). He left a telescoping lid, some frames and I think a bottom screen board in his living room before going to the hospital. I don't think there was any wax with it .One of his friends wants to spray the inside of the home with what they spray the school buses with before anyone enters the home. Just wish I knew what was in their spray. Some of the family members are wondering if he should throw the bee stuff away because they are afraid of covid contamination. The only thing I would consider throwing away would be wax but I am interested in what some of you think.
Will this woodenware be safe to use?
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Risk of covid? Minimal. If you are worried, toss them outdoors in the sunshine for a few days or weeks. No big deal.
Should be easy to find out what they are spraying school buses with. In any case it would not be anything persistent. I don't understand the point of spraying inside the home anyway. He had the covid and is now immune, and no one else lives there. If people are that frightened they should just stay out for a week or two.
I am a nurse who works with covid patients every day. I soak my work clothing in water/detergent for a day before putting it in the laundry. I leave my shoes in the garage. I tell my wife not to touch my equipment bag and lunch container. So far neither she nor I have caught covid, so it seems to work.
Your brother in law, when he gets home from the hospital should immediately strip and shower, and all clothing used in the hospital should be laundered with detergent and a little bleach. But this is all true of anyone who goes to a hospital for any reason! Hospitals are nasty dirty places, no matter how clean they appear, and full of disease-causing bugs. Any personal items used in the hospital should be wiped down with a moist cloth with detergent/bleach before being used in the home.
Should be easy to find out what they are spraying school buses with. In any case it would not be anything persistent. I don't understand the point of spraying inside the home anyway. He had the covid and is now immune, and no one else lives there. If people are that frightened they should just stay out for a week or two.
I am a nurse who works with covid patients every day. I soak my work clothing in water/detergent for a day before putting it in the laundry. I leave my shoes in the garage. I tell my wife not to touch my equipment bag and lunch container. So far neither she nor I have caught covid, so it seems to work.
Your brother in law, when he gets home from the hospital should immediately strip and shower, and all clothing used in the hospital should be laundered with detergent and a little bleach. But this is all true of anyone who goes to a hospital for any reason! Hospitals are nasty dirty places, no matter how clean they appear, and full of disease-causing bugs. Any personal items used in the hospital should be wiped down with a moist cloth with detergent/bleach before being used in the home.
YES... to all of the above but I really would not be worried about the wooden ware. Stack it up in hive formation for a while if you are concerned. It should be a few more weeks before you need it and it's snowing this week end. COVID only exists for a short period on surfaces. Bleach solution in a garden sprayer will solve any "contamination" issue.
Location:
Burlington, MA
I agree with AR1, my ER clothes (when I worked there) were put into the laundry bin outside with some detergent and a bit o bleach, shoes outside too. Same for when I worked in an Animal Hospital because I had multiple animals at home and sometimes worked with flea infected animals.
I am sure the Bus Spray is some kind of Bleach solution. Probably not a good thing to spray on things like Couches/fabric/carpet. That spray is used on wipe-able surfaces, like vinyl and metal, they don't care if the color is blotched. So tell them not to spray. HE can wipe down anything he needs to and people should just not go there.
As for your Bee stuff, just leave them outside or separated in a shed for a month if you wish to make sure no other bees touch it. No need to use them for a while just to keep the peace at home
I am sure the Bus Spray is some kind of Bleach solution. Probably not a good thing to spray on things like Couches/fabric/carpet. That spray is used on wipe-able surfaces, like vinyl and metal, they don't care if the color is blotched. So tell them not to spray. HE can wipe down anything he needs to and people should just not go there.
As for your Bee stuff, just leave them outside or separated in a shed for a month if you wish to make sure no other bees touch it. No need to use them for a while just to keep the peace at home
Just looked under the popular header to see what was there. This was under free to be given away. I don't have anything to give away right now. I don't know how that showed in part of the title. This is the first discussion I have started and I guess I could have done something wrong. I will have to get better at this sort of thing.
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Not a nurse, but my wife is. It's amazing how much of the instruction early-on about dealing with this had nurses and parents everywhere saying, "Shouldn't you always wash your hands, particularly when out in public touching stuff that's been touched by others, and before touching your face". Maybe we've been a bit more germ cautious, but my grandma (who was not medical) gave the same practical advice.
Our son got covid in late Nov and neither my wife or I got it. I set up a laptop, monitor and accessories for an engineer I work with and took it to his house. I placed it on the porch and he and his wife talked with me for 20 minutes (both with active/fresh cases), from 15-20' away. He used this equipment and delivered back to my office in the same box exactly 2 weeks later (when I'm sure he would still show positive). I left it there for 2 days, then parted it out, put the laptop back in my desk, sanitized my hands and went about my biz. A couple days later I took it out and lightly sanitized the keyboard, then placed it back in my desk.
I'm not a med pro of any sort, but dry is a good weapon. If I had to go live/sleep in an apartment where any viral contamination had been, and I had days to make the decision, I would crank the heat to 85-90 for 2 days before moving in. I completely agree with the bleach thing as well, and would wipe counters. Maybe Lysol the place but not go hard-core.
We had a guy come in and "sanitize" the factory after hours a few weeks ago. Only two of us were working that night and he brought some well-dressed teenagers, and a news crew cameraman. They spent 45mins planning how the guy would get his camera shots, put on some backpack sprayers and N95 masks (not respirators) and spent another 45mins on the shop floor creating a bit of a smell and making himself a commercial. Must have been someone's brother-in-law. The place is probably 120' by 1000' and I can virtually guarantee that nothing was thoroughly sanitized. Sorry for the rant, but a lot of folks are making a ton of money spraying this and that and playing on fear when good sound information (as given by 2 medical professionals above) exists.
I remember my wife going to work in MICU as a new nurse in 1988. That's when there was still a lot of myth and fear around a virus. It was HIV. She told me one day, "A 10% bleach solution will kill AIDS". Back then HIV and AIDS were interchangeable in common conversation. I never forgot that, but hadn't thought about the parallels of last year until now. No one outside the gay community and those needing blood had much to worry about then. But it must have been rough on those folks being in a cloud of misinformation and fear.
I hope your brother-in-law is doing well. As for the equipment, I'd put it in sunlight for a few days, and in dry storage until I needed it. In two weeks I'd lick it if I felt so inclined. Once it is sprayed, I wouldn't try and keep bees in it. His friend needs to calm down. And if the doc tells you there's no risk in your home by now, then there's probably no risk.
Our son got covid in late Nov and neither my wife or I got it. I set up a laptop, monitor and accessories for an engineer I work with and took it to his house. I placed it on the porch and he and his wife talked with me for 20 minutes (both with active/fresh cases), from 15-20' away. He used this equipment and delivered back to my office in the same box exactly 2 weeks later (when I'm sure he would still show positive). I left it there for 2 days, then parted it out, put the laptop back in my desk, sanitized my hands and went about my biz. A couple days later I took it out and lightly sanitized the keyboard, then placed it back in my desk.
I'm not a med pro of any sort, but dry is a good weapon. If I had to go live/sleep in an apartment where any viral contamination had been, and I had days to make the decision, I would crank the heat to 85-90 for 2 days before moving in. I completely agree with the bleach thing as well, and would wipe counters. Maybe Lysol the place but not go hard-core.
We had a guy come in and "sanitize" the factory after hours a few weeks ago. Only two of us were working that night and he brought some well-dressed teenagers, and a news crew cameraman. They spent 45mins planning how the guy would get his camera shots, put on some backpack sprayers and N95 masks (not respirators) and spent another 45mins on the shop floor creating a bit of a smell and making himself a commercial. Must have been someone's brother-in-law. The place is probably 120' by 1000' and I can virtually guarantee that nothing was thoroughly sanitized. Sorry for the rant, but a lot of folks are making a ton of money spraying this and that and playing on fear when good sound information (as given by 2 medical professionals above) exists.
I remember my wife going to work in MICU as a new nurse in 1988. That's when there was still a lot of myth and fear around a virus. It was HIV. She told me one day, "A 10% bleach solution will kill AIDS". Back then HIV and AIDS were interchangeable in common conversation. I never forgot that, but hadn't thought about the parallels of last year until now. No one outside the gay community and those needing blood had much to worry about then. But it must have been rough on those folks being in a cloud of misinformation and fear.
I hope your brother-in-law is doing well. As for the equipment, I'd put it in sunlight for a few days, and in dry storage until I needed it. In two weeks I'd lick it if I felt so inclined. Once it is sprayed, I wouldn't try and keep bees in it. His friend needs to calm down. And if the doc tells you there's no risk in your home by now, then there's probably no risk.
Location:
Burlington, MA
Sounds like you don't live with your son so not a shock that you didn't get covid from him.
Also 85-90 will not kill the virus, I believe it is a way more then that.
Also 85-90 will not kill the virus, I believe it is a way more then that.
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I will defer to your knowledge of medicine. I realize a virus that lives in a body at 98.6 and higher wouldn’t be killed by 85-90, but relative humidity near zero for several days I believe would be beneficial.
Our son moved back in after graduating college. The day he first exhibited symptoms I hugged him, prayed for him (as severe back pain was his first symptom) and he, myself, and his mother were in very close contact much of the evening, just a normal day around the dinner table, watching TV, etc. The next day I went to work, he developed fever, drove himself to be tested then came back and went to bed in a room a few feet from the center of our home. He did take precautions and wore a mask when coming out to the rest of the house. His mom wore a mask when taking him anything. Being a nurse of 32 years it may be that we take more precautions when it comes to germs than some folks, and maybe without being conscious of it. My work is pretty isolated, but I stayed home for 2 weeks rather than risk carrying anything outside to others.
It is my belief that if you live alone, contract covid, go to the hospital and recover, and your Dr tells you your home does not pose risk of contagion, that you can move back without doing anything. Truth is, based on my experience of having this under our roof along with many friends and coworkers, if faced with this situation I would moved back in, clean the counters and handles, wash my bedding and any remaining laundry and get on with my life. I will leave my previous comment for context, but it is the fear I was addressing.
I realize this has been difficult for everyone. This virus is contagious and has killed many people, I'm in no way making light of that fact. It is serious and should be taken seriously.
For anyone who might be concerned about using bleach in their home and ruining clothes or furniture coverings, you can use hydrogen peroxide, straight out of the bottle. It is readily available at grocery stores, cheap, anti-viral. The product is sold in dark brown containers because light and air cause it to lose potentcy rapidly. Load some in a spray bottle and spray door knobs, counter tops, bathroom cabinets, floors...non-staining. Leave it wet and in a few hours (overnight) it will have degraded and evaporated. Don't forget to spray shoe and purse bottoms.
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So basically viruses disease etc has a shelf life when not on living things. This can vary a bit from the type involved. But it means that they can't live on non-living surfaces for very long. Sunlight also kills diseases and illnesses.
Early on people were wondering why the covid % infected rates were totally different from Australia compared to Iceland. The Iceland study. This basically had drastically different % infected rates when Covid came into both countries at the same time. Iceland is dark for much of the year, and had people who had zero contact with sunlight for much of the year. This showed and is easily veriable how its different and how sunlight can kill diseases and germs (within reason).
However; that will be influenced also by oils or water present in or on such objects.
This means that it could be safe to keep such things.
However, I wouldn't mess with some things that have exceptions to this like hepatisis or ebola. Those for some reason can survive longer, even for extended periods of time. So can the Black Plague.
I think this will help for your Covid equipment questions.
Early on people were wondering why the covid % infected rates were totally different from Australia compared to Iceland. The Iceland study. This basically had drastically different % infected rates when Covid came into both countries at the same time. Iceland is dark for much of the year, and had people who had zero contact with sunlight for much of the year. This showed and is easily veriable how its different and how sunlight can kill diseases and germs (within reason).
However; that will be influenced also by oils or water present in or on such objects.
This means that it could be safe to keep such things.
However, I wouldn't mess with some things that have exceptions to this like hepatisis or ebola. Those for some reason can survive longer, even for extended periods of time. So can the Black Plague.
I think this will help for your Covid equipment questions.
Five months later, he has probably sorted out whatever he was doing with the equipment.
But, it is true that most viruses have a very short shelf life when separated from a host, especially on dry surfaces. You have to work at it to keep a virus viable in a lab, or, in some cases, freeze it. Not all that long ago they were able to recover viable samples of the 1918 flu from bodies buried in permafrost.
Bacteria are a different story. Some bacteria are able to survive and remain viable for a long time, even on a dry surface.
I was incredulous when I saw the videos of people spraying sidewalks and such for Covid. Completely unnecessary and a waste of time. The only 'useful' purpose might have been to put on a show to make it -look- like they were doing something about it.
Hey everyone. Thanks for all the posts. My brother in law ended up not having wax in the house at the time. The wooden ware that he had in the house was put in the garage till he needed it (about 2 months later). The friend who wanted to spray the inside of the house never showed up. My brother in law has been fully vaccinated now and is enjoying a "good " year with the bees. My wife and I have chosen not to be vaccinated (I was in his house during his covid time bringing him food before he was hospitalized). I thought I should do a follow up for those wondering how things ended up.
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