Steps in Proper Handwashing
Proper handwashing is a time-tested proven effective way to prevent virus and bacteria infection and transmission. Unfortunately, there are some who do not do it properly, and instead shortcut this measure with just rinsing their hands with just water, no soap. Just rinsing hands with water is not enough to get rid of disease-causing germs.
There are 5 easy steps for proper and effective handwashing.
1. Wet your hands with clean running water, then apply soap.
2. Rub and scrub your hands together until the soap foams up. Spread the lather to cover the entirety of your hands, including the back of your hands, your palms, under your nails, between your fingers, and your wrists.
3. Scrub your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds to make sure that you don’t miss any spots.
4. Rinse your hands thoroughly under clean running water. The water should flow from your fingertips down to your wrists, not the other way around (the rationale here is that if there are microbes on your wrists or arms, which you did not wash, flowing water from the arm-side going to the fingertips would simply contaminate your hands again).
5. Dry your hands with a disposable paper towel or an air dryer. If you are using a cloth towel to dry your hands, make sure that cloth towel is in itself not contaminated.
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