Handwashing is one of the ways you can protect yourself and your family from getting sick. Washing your hands thoroughly and regularly helps prevent the spread of diarrhoea and respiratory infections. Typically, germs spread from one person to another when you:
• Touch surfaces that have germs on them
• Touch your mouth, face and nose
• Prepare or eat food or drinks with dirty hands
• Cough, sneeze or blow your nose and then touch other people
According to CDC washing your hands properly reduces the transmission of infectious diseases. Recent studies show that proper handwashing reduces the risk of contracting certain respiratory and gastrointestinal infections by about 35 to 45%. Ergo, it is crucial to learn how to wash your hands properly. After the outbreak of the COVID-19, World Health Organization (WHO) released pictorial instructions on how one should wash his hands. This article will help you understand how you should properly wash your hands.
You need soap and water to get started. After wetting your hands, rub soap on your hands until you form a lather. The second step entails interlocking your fingers (one palm on top of the other hand) and thoroughly rubbing the two together. Switch the hands and repeat the process. To avoid getting dirty again, you can use a towel to turn off the faucet.
It should take approximately one minute to wash your hands thoroughly. It is crucial to explain to your children how to wash their hands. Help them understand this technique to mitigate the spread of germs in your household. To help your kids learn how to wash their hands properly, you can watch tutorial videos together or read articles on how you should wash your hands. Finally, if you don’t have soap and water in your vicinity, using a hand sanitiser is an ideal alternative.
If you find these pictures confusing, this video should make the process a lot easier to understand.
#Didyouknow that hand washing with soap is one of the most important and simple ways to prevent diseases and spreading germs to others. Watch our video by our Infection Prevention and Control Nurse, Helen Saraqi, to learn how to wash your hands like a pro #HandHygiene pic.twitter.com/sPCtaFwODn
— GOSH International (@GOSH_intl) May 5, 2018