As the novel coronavirus continues to spread, health experts are recommending individuals to wear protective gear if they must leave their homes in order to help slow down the spread. In addition to wearing their own masks, many people are wearing gloves to avoid coming in contact with contaminated objects when grocery shopping. But are gloves really protecting you against the pandemic?
In a viral video shared on Facebook, a nurse explains how fast germs spread when people don't wear personal protective equipment properly, including gloves. A former emergency room nurse, Molly Lixey, created the video using paint to demonstrate how quickly germs can contaminate the gloves you wear while shopping.
According to CNN, the video was inspired by a trip to the grocery store during which Lixey witnessed people not only wearing gloves, but unknowingly cross-contaminating them. ”I was doing some painting around the house and it hit me that paint would be a perfect medium to use to explain this (cross contamination)," she told CNN. "It terrifies me to think people believe they're safe only because they are wearing gloves and not have them be aware that they could still be harming themselves or others.”
In her video, Lixey reenacts a trip to the grocery store by first putting gloves on and leaving her car, cellphone in hand. She then cleans a shopping cart and grabs toilet paper, after this action Lixey dips her fingers in the paint to demonstrate the amount of germs on her hands from grabbing the toilet paper. "But it's [germs] on my gloves, that's fine right? It's on my gloves," she said in the video. "But now I'm walking along and my phone rings, so I've now touched my hands together a couple times, I reach for my phone and oh I have a text message from my husband.” Lixey continues her pretend grocery store run and dips her fingers back into the paint each time she picks up a new object. "I understand as a nurse I have had extensive training in the use of PPE, but many people in the general public have not," she said. "They are all so fearful right now they will do anything to protect themselves, but it's important they do so properly. “
The real concern arises when Lixey stimulates the germs winding up on her face, as she picks up a call resulting in the paint staining her cheek. Despite, wearing gloves and removing them, Lixey shows viewers how cross-contamination occurs when the paint stains the cardboard she used to depict her phone.
"There's no point in wearing gloves if you're not gonna wash your hands every time you touch something," Lixey emphasizes in the video. According to the CDC, “soap and water are more effective than hand sanitizers at removing certain kinds of germs.” While gloves can protect you from directly contaminating your skin while touching objects, germs on those same gloves can spread to other objects if you are not careful. In instances like this, where you may have touched your phone or wallet with contaminated gloves be sure to disinfect those items to ensure the germs do not spread elsewhere. Clorox wipes and other disinfecting products can be used on your phone if done so carefully.
Lixey isn’t the only health professional to spread awareness on how germs spread. On Tik Tok, videos on the importance of washing your hands have gone viral, including a video of an experiment conducted by a Dallas nurse Hays Earls that water and pepper flakes to demonstrate how germs stick to our hands. Earls used the experiment to teach her 3-year-old son the importance of hand-washing. In the video, her son dips his finger in a bowl of water and pepper to show how germs stick to the skin. Earl then takes another finger and covers it in soap, this finger when dipped in the bowl causes the pepper to spread away. This shows the impact and importance of hand-washing in disease prevention.
The takeaway?
- Wash your hands
- Refrain from touching your face, phone, or other items while wearing gloves
- If you do accidentally touch something, disinfect it
- Sanitize your hands before entering and after leaving the store
- Again, wash your hands even if you have used sanitizer or have used gloves, it’s better to be safe than sorry
Stay safe and follow precautions recommended by trained healthcare professionals.