COVID -19: Guidelines on Hand Cleaning & Washing
Our hands are hospitable to both bacteria & viruses. Like most flu, Covid-19 virus also is transmitted through the air in virus-laden droplets propelled by coughs and sneezes. Our hands can pick up those droplets from any number of surfaces, so they’re often an important link in the chain of transmission. Hand washing is a standard item on flu-prevention lists, and everyone is putting special emphasis on it now because of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Simple soap and water are still the best way to clean your hands. In studies, washing hands with soap and water for 15 seconds reduces bacterial & virus counts by about 90%. If done for another 15 seconds, counts drop by close to 99.9%. You must be wondering how soap & water kills the coronavirus? because the virus is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is the lipid (fatty) bilayer. Soap water dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart and dies – or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive.
Hand- Washing Technique with soap and water
- Wet hands with water
- Apply enough soap to cover all hand surfaces
- Rub hands palm to palm
- Rub back of each hand with the palm of other hand with fingers interlaced
- Rub palm to palm with fingers interlaced
- Rub with back of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked
- Rub each thumb clasped in opposite hand using a rotational movement\
- Rub tips of fingers in the opposite palm in a circular motion
- Rub each wrist with the opposite hand
- Rinse hand with water
- Use elbow to turn off the tap
- Dry thoroughly with a single-use towel or tissue paper
- Hand washing should take 20-30 seconds
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