You will be surprised!
Maintaining proper hand hygiene at a time when we are dealing with a highly contagious coronavirus is essential to prevent the risk of infection. Soap and water is indeed the best option to clean your hands but in the absence of the same, we rely on hand sanitiser to protect ourselves from the virus. But do you know how long it really lasts?
Surprisingly, your germ-killing standby does not last for a very long time.
02/4The real-time
Two minutes- Yes, the chemical solution that you keep rubbing on your palms, protects you only for this much time.
Hand sanitizer does not provide you prolonged protection and must be reapplied in case of recontamination. As per experts, sanitizers are only effective when you are out on the street and do not have access to water and soap to clean your hands or are going to shake someone’s hand. In any case, the best way to maintain your hand hygiene is by washing them with soap and water. To avoid infection, you must not touch your face and have your meal unless you have just washed your hands.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using a hand sanitizer containing at least 60 per cent alcohol and rubbing them for 30 seconds on your palms to kill the germs present on the surface.
03/4Is there any benefit of using hand sanitizer?
As per the CDC, alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be an alternative to soap and water in case of emergency. But it should not be your go-to solution. The sanitizer will not kill all the germs. They are just fast-acting and significantly reducing the number of germs on the skin.
04/4What should you do?
To protect yourself from infection, clean your hands right before eating your food or touching your face. It doesn’t matter if you have rubbed sanitiser 10 minutes ago. Do it again.
If you are using hand sanitiser, make sure you cover all the surfaces of your hands and rub them together for 30 seconds until they feel dry.
However, the best way to maintain your hand hygiene is by using soap and water. Lather up your hands with soap and rub for at least 20 seconds. Make sure you rub it between the fingers, the back of your hands and under your nails before rinsing with water.