Handwashing is one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family from getting sick. Learn how you should wash your hands to stay healthy.
Regardless of the approach taken to hand hygiene, neither method will offer adequate protection against the spread of infectious pathogens if they are not used correctly.
The guidance for the list of key times to wash hands was developed based on data from a number of studies. You can find this list here.
To prevent the spread of germs during the COVID-19 pandemic, you should also wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol to clean hands BEFORE and AFTER:
- Touching your eyes, nose, or mouth
- Touching your mask
- Entering and leaving a public place
- Touching an item or surface that may be frequently touched by other people, such as door handles, tables, gas pumps, shopping carts, or electronic cashier registers/screens
Hand Sanitizer & Antibacterial Gel
Steps for effective hand sanitizing
- Take off any rings or jewelry on your hands before using sanitizer.
- Dispense a pump of sanitizer into the palm of your hand.
- Rub hands palm to palm.
- Fingers interlaced, rub palm to palm and then right palm to back of left hand and vice versa.
- Cusp back of fingers into opposing palm and rub side to side.
- Clasp right hand around left thumb and rub thumb in rotational manner and vice versa.
- Rub in a rotational manner backwards and forwards by placing fingertips of right hand in left palm and vice versa.
- Keep rubbing until hands are thoroughly dry.
