The number of people infected with the Coronavirus keeps climbing all the time, with more and more cases showing up here at home, now that testing is becoming more widespread.
While the US is still number three, worldwide, in total cases, we can expect that to increase, surpassing even the number of cases that China is willing to admit to.
We are rapidly reaching a point where it will become dangerous to go out in public, due to the high number of people walking the streets who are infected and spreading the disease, even though they may not be symptomatic.
New York City, which is now considered an epicenter of the disease, with over 5% of the total cases worldwide, is probably already at that point. When 1/8 of the population is diseased, you can’t safely make contact with anyone outside your home.
But this doesn’t eliminate the need to leave the house now and then. If nothing else, we are all going to have to replenish our stocks of food and other critical supplies as the lockdown continues. That means going out in public, and if the stores continue with the current restricted hours, there will be no time we can go shopping and not expect to encounter other people.
Okay, so how can we go out in public, without bringing the disease back into our homes when we return?
We’re going to have to start decontaminating ourselves, the moment we arrive home before we make contact with anything.
Ideally, this decontamination should be done outside the family home, say on the back patio. If you have a gate in your fence, allowing access to the backyard, it would be good to set up a decontamination area there, allowing you to decontaminate in some level of privacy, yet still, be outside.
When we get to that point, we should also decontaminate anything we bring home with you.
How do you know that the box of breakfast cereal you just bought wasn’t coughed on by someone with COVID-19? You don’t. Since the virus can survive for up to nine days on hard surfaces, it would be good to decontaminate it, along with decontaminating yourself.
There are three basic ways of decontaminating, although only two of them are practical for our needs. The third method, using heat, requires getting the object hot enough to kill off germs.
But that’s also hot enough to kill us; not a desirable outcome. So we’ll leave that one aside for now. The other two are ultraviolet (UV) light and disinfectants.
Decontaminating with UV Light
Ultraviolet light is uniformly fatal to viruses, breaking down their molecular structure. This is extremely handy for us, as sunlight contains a lot of UV.
That UV isn’t blocked by clouds either, although rain will make it hard for it to get through.
To disinfect with UV, every surface must be exposed to the light. While UV can kill bacteria in as little as 10 seconds, for safety sake we need to work with a time frame of three to four minutes.
So the first step in our decontamination process is to stand in the sun for three to four minutes, turning slowly so that the sunlight can reach all sides of our body.
Of course, there will always be parts of our bodies that are shaded, unless we are going to stand on our heads. So this form of decontamination isn’t going to be enough by itself.
However, it can be enough for decontaminating packages, whether delivered to our door or purchased in one of our local stores.
Decontaminating Packages with UV
If you receive a package delivered to your home, pick it up with disposable rubber gloves on and move it to your decontamination area in the back yard.
There, set it in bright sunlight, arranging it in such a way as to ensure that the most possible surface area is exposed to the light. Leave it there for a few minutes, then turn it over, so that whatever sides were not exposed to the sunlight can be exposed.
If there’s a chance that the package is contaminated, we have to assume that there’s a chance that the contents are as well; that the person who packaged the shipment is infected and had coughed on the package. Therefore, it’s a good idea to open the package outdoors and expose the contents to UV light as well.
The package itself can be disposed of in the outside garbage can.
Once you have allowed all sides of the shipment to be exposed to UV light, remove your disposable rubber gloves, and dispose of them, before picking the item(s) up. If you were to pick them up with the gloves on, you might very well re-contaminate the package.
Decontaminating with Disinfectants
Even if you decontaminate yourself with UV, it’s still a good idea to use chemical decontamination as well, especially for the parts of your body which are shadowed when standing in the sun, such as those shaded by your arms.
You’ll need some sort of disinfectant for this, such as:
- A commercially manufactured disinfectant spray
- Isopropyl rubbing alcohol – must be at least 60%. Do not use denatured alcohol, as it has additives which make it poisonous for human contact
- Hydrogen peroxide – must be at least 3% (check out our guide of multiple uses for Hydrogen Peroxide here)
- Chlorine bleach – most bleach is 6%; dilute it at a ratio of 1/8 cup + 4 teaspoons per gallon of water
- Tincture of iodine (however, this tends to stain)
Whatever type of disinfectant you choose to use, it’s best to have it in a spray bottle for convenience, speed of decontamination and to reduce waste. If possible, adjust the spray bottle for a fine mist. To disinfect:
- Spray the disinfectant over your entire body. You’ll need an assistant to help you get your back, as it’s really hard to spray your back and you can’t see if you’ve done a thorough job.
- Allow the disinfectant to sit for a minute, and then rinse off of any parts of your body where you feel it is necessary. Note: In most cases, it isn’t necessary to rinse off, as it will evaporate.
- Wash your hands for a minimum with normal hand soap and water. Although you can use antibacterial soap, it isn’t necessary and won’t help with eliminating Coronavirus any better than normal soap will.
- When you enter the home, change your clothes, putting the clothes you’ve been wearing in the hamper to be washed.
- Wash your hands again, after removing your clothes.
Please note that no system of decontamination is totally perfect; but the more thoroughly you disinfect, the less chance that you will bring any virus into the home. In a sense, this is a game of odds and what you’re trying to do is tilt the odds in your favor. You’ll know you’ve lost or won by whether or not anyone in your family comes down with the disease.
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i am interested in the information about the speed at which uv light decontaminates. what is the source of that info? is uv works that quickly it seems like nothing microbial would stay alive. since that is not true, i’m thinking maybe there is more info i should know.
A good question. In some third world countries they are using the SODIS system to disinfect water. Basically it involves using 1 liter plastic bottles and leaving the bottles in the hot tropical sun for the whole day which is 12 hours ±
If you research SODIS on line, it will give you more information about the method. It always entails more than just a few minutes in an overcast sky. It takes all day in full sunlight. If the sky is overcast or it is winter time, it takes more than a day to adequately purify the water.
So, yes, solar UV rays do kill bacteria and viruses — slowly. I am not sure that a few minutes in the sun would do the job.
Certainly the safest procedure is to open the box outdoors put it directly in the trash, use a bleach or IPA solution to wipe down the contents and then move them indoors.
Take your outer clothing off either outdoors (coverall scheme) or immediately upon entering the home — if your laundry equipment is in the garage, that would be a good place to undress — and put your outer clothing in the washing machine and wash with hot water and soap.
While it is best to be safe, It is necessary to be sensible also. I think the biggest source of contamination in the home is shoes worn outdoors also worn indoors. That would be more of a concern to me than the contents inside an Amazon box. If someone sneezes in the supermarket, a significant portion of the spray expelled falls on the floor. Everything falls on the floor. I have seen people spit on the floor in markets, if you can imagine. It is hard to imagine someone doing that but I have seen it with my own eyes.
Unwittingly you walk on whatever detritus is on the floor and track it into your car and then into your house. What? You still wear your outdoor shoes inside the house? Yuck! !
‘Nuf said.
yes, floors! i’ve seen people bring toddlers with them to visit a hospital patient and let them crawl on the floor. nurses are trained that nothing on a floor is to be considered sterile. ever. o, and a couple uv light bad things–are sunburn and skin cancer.
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, UV-C light. they use it in hospitals and such places that need to be germ free. our atmosphere block out that wavelength.
If you could put skylight windows that would be great
Ched: On the to-do list, but not for that. I’d like us to put them over the living room (which faces south) to use it as a greenhouse in winter, and against when temps go over 85 F (from April to sometime to Sept.). tomatoes and peppers, and a few other things get the pollen blasted by heat then. But, 2,400 per each skylight, and the goofs want to put in domed shields, which build heat in the house. niio
if you want uv light,you should get a 2 bulb
floresant fixture and put in a couple of
grow light bulb,hang it on the wall.Hang the lamp on end.
What about these Germicidal UVC Ultraviolet Sterilizer Wands. Would they be of any help , or are those hyped up gimmicks taking advantage of the situation?
My dentist uses UV to sterilize his instruments. No more autoclaving them. I haven’t investigated his UV equipment, perhaps that might be a chore for my next visit. I suspect, however, that his UV equipment is a bit more than a UV wand that he passes like a magician’s wand over his instruments. I suspect it has a chamber and bathes the instruments in a fairly intense burst of UV radiation.
I would be suspect of any $39.95 UV wand or whatever they sell them for. I suspect that the dentist’s UV equipment went out the door for several hundred dollars.
I haven’t investigated UV equipment, so I am just guessing, but I would suspect for medical/dental sterilization there is some sort of rating system. I would look to see what the UV equipment that you are talking about is rated at if it is rated at all.
In fact, if I were interested in UV equipment, I would go on line and do product research. See how equipment is evaluated, how it is rated, what are the price ranges for various equipment. I suspect that there will be Chinese imports offered at low prices to snag the unwary. You are dealing with your health and the health of your loved ones. Isn’t that worth more than $49.95? I am not suggesting that the equipment must necessarily be expensive, but like so much in this world, you can’t get a Cadillac for the price of a Yugo. If you pay for a Yugo, you most certainly are going to get a Yugo. You may pay for a Cadillac and still get a Yugo but it never works the other way.
Buyer beware.
I spent several hours investigating UV sterilization, it’s very effective but has to strike every surface. You can get a good T8 type germicidal UVC fixture for under 200.00. These are powerful enough to be harmful to your skin so you have to leave when you run them, and they create so much ozone you need to let the room air out for half an hour after operating it. You can spend more and get a UVC bulb that has a coating that prevents ozone. The only problem with UVC sterilization is that it’s impossible so far to order one that will be here before the middle of May.
Thanks for the info. Mike.
I don’t use PAYPAL
What about these Germicidal UVC Ultraviolet Sterilizer Wands. Would they be of any help , or are those hyped up gimmicks taking advantage of the situation?
Using PayPal is this bad or good?
On the other hand, if one wears light weight coveralls when one goes out, it is easy to shuck the coveralls and put them into the washing machine to be washed.
Tyvek may be easier to decontaminate however it is quite hot and uncomfortable to wear. I personally would not recommend Tyvek coveralls.
Nitrile gloves don’t have to be thrown away after each use. In my opinion, they are easier to clean than your hands. They don’t have all the callouses and crevices that my hands seem to have acquired over the years where nasties can hide unless the washing is very thorough. The smooth seamless surface of the nitrile gloves make them much easier to thoroughly clean. Just a thought in case you didn’t stock up with several hundred pairs.
Additionally, all the washing has wreaked havoc on my smooth, soft hands and my O’Keeffe’s Working Hands cream seems to have gone to Rio de Janeiro for the duration. Wearing nitrile gloves and cleaning them with alcohol mist relieves the wear and tear of constantly scrubbing up as if I am going to perform a colon resection.
As an addendum to my article, I read a review for men’s coveralls but women had purchased them. Surprisingly enough apparently there are no coveralls on the market designed for a woman’s body. They are all designed for a man’s body, hence if you buy a coverall that has a 36 inch chest measurement you may find that the hips are a bit snug.
Also remember that the name of the garment is “coverall”. It is meant to cover your every day clothes, so you have to order a larger than normal size because you are going to have clothing underneath. Be prepared for two hand slits on either side so you can reach through to your trousers pockets. If you just wear your undies underneath be prepared to show a little skin.
Just a couple of points I thought to mention that the ladies reviewing the coveralls mentioned that having worn coveralls at various times in my life I just assumed everyone knew. Also be prepared to shorten the arms and legs. They won’t fit no matter what size you get. Just roll ’em up. That’s what the guys do. They are utility clothing, not a fashion statement.
Too snug? ! 🙂 But, there are companies that make coveralls for women. A lort of ranchers buy them, farmers and so on, but so do biologists. https://www.rosiesworkwear.com/products/coveralls/
And, for those who kile Kali the way it is, they come in pink for that special fellow 🙂
Wow, Red, way to be on the ball ! ! ! I did notice that the ladies coveralls were all more expensive that what I bought in a long-sleeved men’s light weight coverall. That could well not be sexist as might seemingly be apparent on first glance. Not to be sexist myself, but I kinda think the market for ladies coveralls is a bit smaller than the men’s market, and as in all things mass produced, the bigger the market, the lower the unit cost.
I might add that the pink coveralls were marked down at the time I look at the site furnished by Red.
Chuck, forgive me for bearing sad news, but https://patriactionary.wordpress.com/2020/03/26/great-news-for-canada-sad-news-for-america/
(Thank You, Jesus, it’s not Arizona!~)
Damn. I told Donnie last week he should close the border. I’m going to stop sending him memos if he’s not going to read them and follow the damned good advice in them.
Well, there goes the neighborhood. I see they want to be close to their publicity flacks. Looks like wifey has big plans for a bigger and better career than what she enjoyed B.H.
I have a couple of nasty comments, but in a huge swelling of good taste I won’t post them.
chuck: there’s an old saying the truth hurts only the guilty.
Mexico closed the borders to stop Kali from shipping home more sick mojados.
I was on Yahoo this morning happy to point out to liberals how they support the nazis by supporting the dnc and blaming Trump for all their wrong-doing. What can I say? It’s a hobby.
The truth only hurts the guilty. Keep up the good work. niio
I think Frog Togs would be a better idea . What do you guys think? Just to wear them for the time you’re out….
Ekkaia: Well Frog Togs are just coveralls in a different form. The only problem with them is I am not sure they can stand washing with hot soapy water in the washing machine. I would want to wash my outer clothing each time I returned from an outing to prevent contaminating other items.
I have Frog Togs for both wife and me and I like them for those rare occasions that moisture called “rain” falls from the sky — as opposed to that orange stuff called Phoschek. Frog Togs are good when that stuff is falling from the sky too. Phoschek falls more frequently than rain, so they get more use during the Phoschek season.
Thank you for all this helpful and wonderful information. I’ve shared it with family and friends.
Rich, ask at the pharm for clear iodine. Bleach tabs, look in WalMart near the fabric softener. Clergy Lady recommended them to me. I wish she would post new articles. She’s been prepping for decades. Also, in the old days, a few onion halves in a sick room helped to sterilize the room. the smell is an acid which kills germs. niio
Red: Good suggestion. I never thought about bleach tabs, but yes, you can make up a bleach solution that way. Nothing more than sodium hypochlorite in powder form. Outstanding!
Blame ClergyLady, who reminded me of it. And now to find any. We have people from Tucson and Phoenix shopping in the area because Kali-fornians cleaned out their stores. I’ll keep an eye on-line to order it. niio
There are local groups that pick up groceries and deliver to the house for older folks and those with reduced immune system. The delivery driver set the bags near the door and leave. No personal contact is made by the driver and you.
The only comments that I would add is that if possible get undressed outside as well and have two laundry baskets, one for dirty and one for clean clothes. If you put your washed clothes back in the dirty hamper you could recontaminate them.
One other thing. Anything you touched outside should be avoided or disinfected like keys cell phone eye glasses etc,
Hopefully only one person will be going off to get things, so only one person will need to be decontaminated, which we have already been doing for 3 weeks now. BUT! Do NOT put your clothes in the hamper! Wash them immediately! If possible, use some bleach in there. don’t allow any germs which might have escaped to migrate into other clothes, all of which will be handled by an ”innocent” person who is probably not being super careful just washing clothes. If you don’t know how to use gloves in the proper way, be sure to watch youtubes or something to see how to do it. I used to be a surgical technician in the OR, and it is totally cool how you glove and then take your gloves off, using sterile technique. I dropped out of the class before I finished the year, and never realized how handy it would be to learn how to work the gloves. I have taught several people how to do it. You totally need visuals though. I tried telling someone over the phone how to do it, and I could not do it at all!
Are you sure 30% hydrogen peroxide? Sure that shouldn’t be 3%
And you need to wash your hands for a minimum of 20 seconds (You didn’t include the time). I prefer 30, what the heck eh?
Are you sure 30% hydrogen peroxide? Sure that shouldn’t be 3%
And you need to wash your hands for a minimum of 20 seconds (You didn’t include the time). I prefer 30, what the heck eh?
30%? Ouch. Wouldn’t that dissolve skin? niio
we spray hands and any cash we happen to get as change with LYSOL spray.takes very little to do the packages
also.ordered 99 percent alcohol and aloe vera ,mixed together in a spray bottle and we use that at work at the post office.
Good article. I think you meant to say the hydrogen peroxide needs to be 3% not 30%, though. ;-}
I order H202 ten gallons at a time from a pharmaceutical company for $7.60/gallon. Unless you find a good sale, that’s cheaper than buying it by the quart. (They cancelled my last order three weeks ago, though, because of low supplies due to COVID-19.)
Agreed. 30% would be caustic. Certainly kill germs but your skin would be very unhappy and you would have to be careful what you applied it to.
hmm i am going to share on here praying it helps others first of all google thieves oil and read the history of it of how it came to be. this is the ingredients : Thieves Essential Oil Ingredients
•Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)†
•Lemon (Citrus limon)†
•Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)†
•Eucalyptus radiata†
•Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis CT 1,8 cineol)†
but you can buy it as it has other names like thrive oil or immunity oil etc i put like 21 drops of each in a bottle i also add other oils like orange , oregano , tea tree, etc
Okay now get an 8 ounce bottle with spray pour alochol in it and add like 7 drops . i do this and spray in a fine mist all over me before i go out. as for the oil i put some on my temple just in my nose [ you may want to add another oil as it can burn] just in the outter part of my ears on my hands and on the bottom of my feet [ should also put on bottom of feet when sleeping] i also wipe my hands on my face and neck and arms [ it is warmer now wearing short sleeve] plus take either the spray bottle with you or a rag [ dry wipe ? ] put some oil on it plus alochol or water so is damp take with you as everything you touch you can wipe your hands with. Maybe this may help some of you be safe everyone God bless.
It may sound silly, but my wife wants to know if that bleach ratio will affect her clothing. ;o)
When I first started washing my own clothes I figured if a little bleach was good, a lot of bleach would be better.
Well, guess what. A lot of bleach not only changes the color of your clothes, it makes the clothes disintegrate. So if your wife wants a new wardrobe, tell her go full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes. Of course you will need to go to the store to gather up her new wardrobe as when she goes to take the clothes out of the drier, they will all be on the lint screen and she won’t have a anything to wear that was in that washer load.
Follow the destructions on the bottle. They are there for a very good reason. (not a typo, just an attempt to restart my career on the Comedy Club circuit)
Bleach is an oxidizer and is really caustic in strong doses. I use the disinfecting ration that is listed on the Clorox label. It doesn’t seem to hurt clothing, but on the other hand I don’t spray it on anything that I particularly like.
What I am using for disinfectant is 75% isopropyl alcohol solution made from supplies left over from my printing company. They’ve been sitting in the shed for 20 years. Trying to use 5 gallons of 98% IPA around the house takes some doing. I use it to degrease metal that I want to paint, but that hardly takes any at all. I used about a gallon a week in the print shop. We used it in the water fountain on the printing press as a wetting agent, so went through about a pint a day whereas at home, it’s more like a pint a year.
chuck: Our parents believed when we were 6, we were old enough to fill the wringer washer and wash our own clothes. Every step was watched but not often interfered with as long as we did as we were told beforehand. After jamming the wringers a few times and getting fingers pinched, we learned how not to wring out clothes. 🙂 Bleach? No, not that. Washing soda works and is less deadly. And, we could buy it by the 5-gallon bucket at the feed store to clean dairy equipment.
that alcohol will be a lot more valuable after SHTF. It’s as good as gasoline to serve ‘cocktails to raiders 🙂
Yeah, I guess when (not IF) SHTF, she wont care too much if the clothes get a little “lighter” in areas. I think ‘red’ is right…isopropyl will be like gold. Just try to buy it on Amaz0n…you can’t. Haven’t been able to for weeks.
The virus can live for 15 minutes at 132F. The higher the heat, the short the lifespan. The lower the heat, the longer the life span Wash your clothes in hot water and dry the clothes in the dryer WITHOUT bleach unless the clothes are white or old clothes you don’t care about. Then dry the clothes in the dryer.
I’ve read several articles in the last couple days stating that the Sunlight’s UV rays are NOT strong enough to kill Corona Virus. At least not in a few minutes of exposure
I think that is good advice, Spike. Having read up on the SODIS method of purifying water some time ago, I too am of the opinion that if you really want UV rays from the sun to kill CoVD19, it will take a day or so in the sun, turning the box so that all sides of it face the sun for several hours. Sounds like more trouble than it is worth. Just throw the thing in the trash.
Additionally, having read Mike’s post about a good UV device going out the door for about $200, I would doubt that the devices you see advertised on line will do the job. I doubt that a home made device will do the job. This is your family’s health we are talking about. Do you really want to risk the health of everyone in your family on a device that may or may not do the job when there are proven safer methods of getting the task done?
I can never understand why people will risk something precious and dear to some unproven risky methodology just to be different or to save a couple of bucks.
Yes, Steri-pens use UV and they are small hand held devices but you are sticking them down in the middle of a small quantity of, hopefully, already clean – not sterile -water. The copy along with the Steri-pen site said the water had to be clear, if it were cloudy or dirty the pen wouldn’t work. 32 ounces of water in a bottle takes 90 seconds for the pen to work. That is water trapped inside a bottle with the pen inserted in the middle of the water. Oh, and Steri-pens on the site I visited were $110.00 plus shipping less 20% on your first order, so $80.00 plus shipping and possibly sales tax.
The copy also said that the Steri-pen would not burn your skin or otherwise be harmful if used as directed, so it would appear from that there is some disadvantage to using UV, make you blind, burn your skin, overload your system with ozone I guess you take your pick any one or all of the above.
This was posted in an article on line by USA Today. You each have your own opinions about the veracity and accuracy of news media in general and USA Today in particular, so I will let you draw your own conclusions:
“What experts say: The sun’s UV light cannot kill the coronavirus and concentrated UV light should not be used to kill the virus.
“The claim has been shared widely on the internet, but it holds little truth. Experts have advised against using concentrated UV light to prevent or treat the coronavirus and do not recommend going in the sunlight to kill the virus.
“Only levels of concentration of UV light much higher than what is found in sunlight can kill viruses, the experts note, and the levels that are able to kill viruses can cause irritation to human skin and should be avoided.
“Pokrath Hansasuta, assistant professor of virology at Chulalongkorn University, explained what happens to AFP Fact Check.
“Ultraviolet is able to kill COVID-19 if it is exposed to the concentrated UV ray in a certain amount of time and distance,” she said to AFP Fact Check. “However, that level of UV exposure is harmful to human’s skin. Most likely, it will be in the light bulb or lamp as the natural UV from the sun is not strong enough to kill it.
“The World Health Organization agrees.
“The agency created a graphic as part of a series of myth-busters about the coronavirus that tells the public not to use UV light to kill the virus.
“UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation,” the graphic reads.
“Neither sunlight or UV light is listed as a preventative measure on the websites of the WHO or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There is some evidence to suggest the spread of the virus may slow down as the weather gets warmer. That may be leading some to incorrectly suggest sunlight as a tip to stay healthy.”
Just from what little I have gathered from researching UV instruments for purifying water, the product description for Stere-Pen and the information posted by Mike, my thoughts are that any UV device that is strong enough to kill viruses by waving it over the device that is desired to be sterilized will necessarily have to be so powerful that to use it in an unguarded fashion would be deleterious to at least your skin and eyes and perhaps have other undesired defects.
I personally would be very reluctant to trust the health of my family to a device that was a simple to operate as illustrated in various catalogs and on line. How weak must the UV rays be if you don’t need to at least wear eye protection and gloves when operating the device?
Well, I clicked on an ad for a UV light that was touted to kill CoVD19 in a room. It is a u-shaped light. The copy with the ad said you just placed it in the room, turned the switch on and you had 30 seconds to exit the room. The device automatically turned off after 30 minutes of bathing the room in UV rays, making it safe to once again return to the room that is now supposedly sanitized. It is rechargeable battery operated, so you can take it with you anywhere that you want to sanitize in 30 minutes.
lI didn’t find out how much it costs because it is one of those come-on websites where you have to enter all your information before you get to the price part and I didn’t want to enter all my info just to satisfy my curiosity. My suspicion is that it was not cheap if they won’t tell you how much it costs up front.
Anyone thinking of building a decontamination box? Basically a four foot square box with table legs and doors on opposite sides. Put UV lights on the inside with a view glass port and attached rubber gloves (think all those SciFi movie prop boxes). Less of a home made version (more expensive) is to use a sandblasting cabinet by add the multiple UV lights inside. Leave the decom cabinet in place where the UPS guy can load it with a sign for use, decom the outside of the decom cabinet (bleach spray from a distance), decom yourself if needed, unpack & decom (UV Light) the contents inside the cabinet and unload the cabinet. Ultra high end would be a built-in decom cabinet using an exterior access door into the house. A slightly less permanent version would be a decom cabinet against an outside wall window opening. Foam weather seal strip and discrete securing to the wall surface make it stay in place. Remove the outside screen and leave the window unlatched. UPS guy puts the box in through the window, decom it and open the inside door to get the items. Put a strong latch on the inside access door for security.
The only problem with disinfecting via UV light is that it needs to be industrial strength in order to truly kill viruses and bacteria. So, standing in the sunlight for 3-4 minutes in not going to do it, nor does leaving items outside for the sun to decontaminate. Better to remove and wash your clothing (after taking off your shoes and spraying them with Lysol or a bleach solution), placing the dirty stuff in the washer, wash your hands, and then put on clean clothing or a specially-designated robe (one that is definitely clean and left in the changing arena after each cleansing and use) if you plan to shower first.
Thank you for sharing I would give it a try
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