Washing your hands is likely a perfunctory and frequent part of your daily routine, yet, many full-grown adults manage to do a less-than-ideal job at hand-washing. This is more important at this moment as the WHO has declared coronavirus as a pandemic 

With flu season in full swing and the coronavirus continuing to spread across borders, we thought it might be helpful for us to share healthy hand-washing tips.

Why should we wash our hands properly? 

Hand hygiene is the most imperative measure to avoid the transmission of harmful germs and prevent person-to-person transmission. This article will explain how and when to practice hand hygiene.

How to wash hands properly

Hand washing is not just done anyhow; it’s what needs to be done carefully and more thoroughly.

According to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there’s a right way to wash your hands, it’s broken down into the following five steps

1. Wet your hands to the wrist with clean, running water (the temperature doesn’t matter). Turn off the tap, and apply a good amount of soap.
2. Lather up the soap by rubbing your hands together. Don’t forget to spread that lather to the backs of your hands up to your wrists, between your fingers, and under your nails.
3. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. 
4. Rinse your hands thoroughly under clean, running water.
5. Dry your hands using a clean paper towel, hand dryer or let them air dry.

When you should wash your hands; 

According to both doctors and the CDC, you should wash your hands:

• Before, during, and after preparing food. “Keeping clean hands and clean food prep surfaces. 
• Right before eating food. Think of your hands as food utensils. “The main germ portals of entry to our bodies are our mouths and nose, and our hands. 
• Before and after caring for someone at home who is sick with vomiting or diarrhea. 
• Before and after treating a cut or wound to prevent infection.
• After using the toilet, changing diapers, or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet 
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. Contagious germs from a sneeze can live in the air for hours. 
• After touching an animal, animal feed treats or animal waste. 
• After touching garbage.

We are all saddened with the responsibility of making our society a safe place to live amidst the recent outbreak of coronavirus in the world.