Keep Washing Those Hands Everyone and Properly Too!

We were all taught from a very young age on the importance of washing, how, and when to wash our hands. We wash our hands to remove or kill off germs. We are to wash our hands before and after eating, after using the restroom, before and after cooking, when handling dirty diapers and if visibly dirty.

However, how many of us can honestly say we had been washing our hands properly Pre-Coronavirus era? Do not be shy people, we can all be honest here. Majority of us had not been washing our hands properly.

During Pre-Coronavirus era, we were either washing our hands without using soap, washing our hands for 5seconds or not washing our hands at all especially after using the restroom. During this Coronavirus era, washing of hands with soap and water is one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of the virus. The problem most developing countries are facing with this measure is that, a lot of communities have no running water or shortage of water. In Cameroon, the government donated buckets, soaps, and hand sanitizers to various communities while some local Non-Governmental organizations such as Value Health Africa, donated hand washing supplies and hand washing stations to various communities as well [1].

So what is the proper way to wash our hands? According to The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),

· we start by wetting our hands with running water [2]

· applying enough soap to cover wet hands [2]

· scrubbing all surfaces of our hands including the back of our hands, between fingers and under our nails for at least 20seconds ( or we can sing happy birthday song twice)[2]

· rinsing thoroughly with running water [2] and

· drying our hands with a clean cloth or single use towel [2].

Notice the steps require running water? Well, unfortunately, until the government in Cameroon and other African countries rectify the problem of water shortages, washing and rinsing our hands under running water is very unrealistic for many. Despite our short comings, whatever we have been doing to wash our hands, we need to keep doing so properly especially when out of our homes. If we do not have access to hand washing stations while out in public, we could use our hand sanitizers to keep our hands clean.

References

1. Recent News. (2020). Retrieved 30 June 2020, from http://www.valuehealthafrica.org/updates

2. Everything you need to know about washing your hands to protect against coronavirus (COVID-19). (2020). Retrieved 30 June 2020, from https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/everything-you-need-know-about-washing-your-hands-protect-against-coronavirus-covid-19