Coronavirus Watch: How to stay safe at the grocery store

As we brace for a difficult few weeks, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, recently said it's not the time to go grocery shopping. But what if you must get food or there's no delivery or pickup services where you live?

Here are tips experts recommend shoppers take to stay safe: 

• Wear a cloth face mask and wash it when you get home.
• Bring hand sanitizer. Use disinfectant wipes on the cart or basket.
• Bring as little as possible into the store to avoid contamination. 
• Stay at least 6 feet from others, especially in the checkout line or in an aisle.
• Shop alone and leave children at home, if possible.
• Limit the time in the store: Make a list to save time and use paper so you can throw it away. 
• Throw away plastic and paper bags. If you must use cloth bags, wash them after each use. 
• Wash your hands before and after you unpack groceries, and before you wash produce or prepare food.

It's Tuesday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network.

Here's the latest news, as of 2:30 p.m. ET:

• In the U.S., there are nearly 380,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and almost 12,000 deaths. See a map here. 
• President Donald Trump has replaced the Pentagon watchdog who was overseeing the $2 trillion stimulus spending. Glenn Fine has been acting inspector general since 2015.
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is "stable" in intensive care and is receiving oxygen, his office said Tuesday. Johnson, 55, was hospitalized Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for the virus.
• Wisconsin held its primary election after Gov. Tony Evers' effort to postpone was rejected by the conservative majority of the state Supreme Court. Voters were greeted by poll workers in gloves and masks as they tried to social distance. 
• New York saw its worst one-day spike in deaths from the coronavirus, increasing by 15% from the prior day. Gov. Andrew Cuomo described the spike as an anomaly and that the state has reached a "plateau" of hospitalizations. 
• The CDC says thousands of cruise passengers on more than 20 ships may have been exposed to the coronavirus between February and March. Were you on one of these cruises? Here's a list. 
• Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the first U.S. senator to have the coronavirus, has recently tested negative. 

Paste BN is continuing to answer your questions about the coronavirus. Submit them here and see answers in our newly published reader Q&A here. 

Jean B. from Charleston, South Carolina, asks: Should I be wiping down every product purchased with a Clorox wipe or a washcloth soaked in bleach?

Do NOT use bleach or alcohol to disinfect your groceries, as it can likely harm you if ingested. In fact, experts say it's not necessary to disinfect your groceries at all, even with a Clorox wipe. 

The virus is unlikely to be viable on those surfaces in the trip from the grocery store to your house. However, experts do recommend washing your hands throughout the process of unpacking groceries: Before and after putting away the groceries, before washing fruit, after wiping down high-touch surface areas and, of course, before preparing a meal. 

And just like before the outbreak, it’s always recommended to wash fruit and vegetables with water before consumption. Experts advise against using soaps on produce as they're not meant to be ingested and can cause stomach distress. More grocery shopping tips here. 

Need help coping amid these crazy times? We've launched a newsletter called Staying Apart, Together that provides some wisdom and distractions. Sign up here.

As always, thank you for subscribing. We appreciate you trusting the Paste BN Network with this important information. 

— Adrianna Rodriguez, health reporter, @AdriannaUSAT, and Rachel Aretakis, breaking news editor, @raretakis