Coronavirus: Change your gloves regularly or they can get you infected faster than bare hands, say experts
As the new coronavirus tightens its grip around the world, gloves and facemasks are becoming the new normal. But can they protect you from COVID-19?
According to experts, gloves are not foolproof. People can unintentionally expose themselves to the virus, if they are not careful. As for facemasks, experts are debating its role in protecting people.
What you should know before wearing gloves?
A former emergency ward nurse took to Facebook to educate people about the possible risks of wearing gloves. "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," Molly Lixey, a former emergency room nurse in Saginaw, Michigan, told CNN.
In her video, she said: "I am seeing a lot of people in the public wearing gloves right now. That's great but if you want to wear gloves, that is all fine and well. But I want to remind you of a little thing called cross-contamination."
Cross-contamination is the transfer of microorganisms—bacteria or viruses—from one surface to another.
In her video, she gives an example of how cross-contamination is dangerous, especially when people wear gloves and carry out regular chores, buying groceries, for instance.
She explains what she does before stepping out, she wears gloves, grabs her cellphone and gets into her car. At the grocery store, she grabs some toilet paper, which is contaminated. And then she touches her phone with her contaminated gloves to answer a call, unintentionally transferring germs on to her phone and then on to her face.
"This is called cross-contamination. There is no point in wearing gloves if you are not going to wash your hands every time you touch something. Do whatever that makes you safe but remember, there is some science here," she said.
Other experts have also issued similar warnings. "You can think about wearing gloves, but unless you’re experienced with putting gloves on and off, you may actually contaminate your hands more and therefore get a false sense of security,” Karen Hoffmann, a registered nurse and the immediate past president of The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, told CNBC.
Experts stress the importance of changing them regularly. Lindsay Broadbent, a virologist at Queen’s University Belfast, told The Guardian: “They’re like a second skin. If you’re touching unclean surfaces with gloves and then touching your face, you might as well not wear them at all."
The World Health Organisation has also not recommended that people wear gloves and facemasks to protect themselves.
The new coronavirus can remain on facemasks for a week
As experts continue to debate on the usefulness of facemasks for the general public, one new study throws light on the downsides of using surgical masks. It found that the infectious virus is capable of staying put for a week.
But the virus is not invincible. "SARS-CoV-2 can be highly stable in a favorable environment, but it is also susceptible to standard disinfection methods,” wrote the researchers, in their Lancet study.
In the US, the Centers for Disease Protection (CDC) has asked Americans to wear cloth face masks. But experts believe they may not protect you but following hand hygiene and social distancing can.