The Power of Hand-Washing

3/9/2020 (Permalink)

While everyone may be focused on the new COVID-19, reports of the flu and strep are running rampant as well.  It is a good time to review the ways to keep yourself and your family safe. What’s the biggest step you can take? Hand washing!

Believe it or not, many people do not know the proper way to wash their hands! A quick dap of soap and a rinse will not protect you from germs. Hand sanitizer will help when you need a quick way to sanitize your hands – just make sure it has more than 60% alcohol.

Coronaviruses are encased in a lipid envelope -- basically, a layer of fat. Soap can break that fat apart and make the virus unable to infect you. The second thing soap does is mechanical. It makes skin slippery so that with enough rubbing, we can pry germs off and rinse them away.

Recent studies report that the temperature of the water doesn’t matter – but scrubbing your hands for 20 seconds does. Most people only wash their hands for about 6 seconds, states the study.

Be sure to wash your hands OFTEN, especially after using the bathroom and before you eat. Be sure to avoid touching contaminated surfaces. Use a clean paper towel to open bathroom doors. Disinfect dirty surfaces that you use every day, like the touchscreen on your phone and your computer keyboard.

Source: https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200306/power-of-hand-washing-to-prevent-coronavirus