Wash your hand rightly is very important to protect yourself and near once to get sick.
Here you will learn about how to wash your hands to stay appropriately.
How Virus Spread
Handwashing prevents the respiratory and diarrheal infection, which can be transmitted from one person to another. Virus can be spread by a person , object or surface :
- Viruses can be spread when you touch your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- When you prepare or eat food with unwashed hands, germs can be spread..
- When you drink water, juice, or milk with unwashed hands, germs can be spread.
- When you cough or sneeze into your hands and then touch other people or objects.
Key Times to Wash Hands
It’s essential to stay healthy by washing your hands regularly. We tried to list down the crucial times when you have to wash your hands:
- Wash your hands when you come from outside.
- Wash your hands before, during, and after preparing food.
- Wash your hands before having meal and after having meal.
- Wash your hand after using bathroom .
- Wash your hand when you touch your garbage.
- Wash your hands when you give food to pets or touch them.
- Wash your hands before and after you care for someone who is sick.
- Wash your hands when you are sneezing and coughing.
Importance of handwashing during COVID-19 pandemic
As we all know, right now, no medicine is developed to treat Covid-19. So, all of us must stay healthy and avoid getting sick. When you come in physical contact with someone who already has coronavirus infection. So to keep Covid-19 disease away, it’s better to keep yourself clean, and handwashing is vital in that aspect.
- It’s essential to wash your hand after travel or visit any public place. As you may have touched items or surfaces such as door handles, gate, tables, ATM, etc. which is infected.
- It’s also important to wash your hands when you touch your face.
Steps to wash your hands
Wash your hand is a perfect and effective way to prevent the virus to infect yourself. Clean hands avoid the spread of bacteria or viruses from one person to another. It is the best way to prevent community spread of coronavirus as well.
Follow these five steps of handwashing every time.
- First, Wet your hand in running water and turn off the tap.
- Apply soap on the front and back and of your hand as well as in between fingers.
- Now scrub your hands for a minimum of 20 seconds.
- Rinse your hands under clean running water and wash away the soap.
- Dry your hands with a clean towel, tissue paper, or air dryer.
Use of Hand Sanitizer
There is many times in a day when you don’t have access to soap and water, then it’s better to use hand alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Effective Sanitizer must contain a minimum of 60% alcohol.
The best way to wash your hand is through soap and water. But yes, at times when we travel or go outside, then we don’t have access to water and soap all the time, and during those times, hand sanitizer is the only option as hand sanitizer is easy to carry anywhere. We must use hand sanitizer, which contains a minimum of 60% alcohol. So before buying any sanitizer, please check the label that Sanitizer includes a minimum of 60% alcohol.
Sanitizers are useful but not in all situations. Yes, it reduces the germs on your hand by killing the germs. However, Sanitizer is not effective when the hands are visibly filthy and greasy as well as it also not completely remove the chemicals from pesticides and heavy metals. So, try to wash your hand with water and soap whenever possible and when it’s not possible, then only use sanitizers.
Important: Use of alcohol-based Sanitizer is dangerous also as alcohol is acid, and it is dangerous if you swallow alcohol-based Sanitizer. Also, acid catches fire quickly, so avoid cooking or fire-related work for a minimum of 3 minutes.
Steps to use hand sanitizer
- First, apply the sanitizer gel in your hands.
- Rub your hands gently.
- Rub the sanitizer gel properly on your hands and between the fingers till it gets dry.