The whole world is struggling to fight the daunting COVID-19 pandemic that engulfed humankind and has brought the significance of medical care to the front line. A healthy individual with strong immunity can resist better to the infection. Fuelling expectations of the early arrival of vaccine has additionally driven numerous individuals to accept that the pandemic circumstance won’t keep going long and the new normal of wearing face covers and physical distancing may not be a severe necessity to forestall the spread of contamination.
Washing hands is proven to be the primary and most effective way of keeping bacterial and viral diseases at bay. Coronavirus disease is a respiratory infection and thus it is critical to ensure your hands remain clean as they are bed to many infections being in usually close contact with our face. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts handwashing to be a “do-it-yourself” vaccine to lessen the spread of coronavirus. The current health emergency provides a stark reminder for everybody to understand the significance of keeping up close to cleanliness.
Ten months into the pandemic, however, maintaining hygiene and practicing hand cleanliness i.e. washing hands with soap (preferably a disinfectant) and clean water will remain the most simple and affordable than hand sanitizers against viral infection till a vaccine is established by researchers to battle the pandemic. As we use public transports, contact individuals, items, common surfaces, and visit public places throughout the duration of the day, we get prone to accumulate a lot of infectious agents. This, in turn, can infect us further, by contacting eyes, mouth, or nose. Even though it is difficult to keep hands completely devoid of germs, frequent hand washing can help limit the exchange of microorganisms and infection.
A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that standard handwashing with a cleanser can decrease diarrheal contamination by 30 to 48%, respiratory contaminations by 20%, aside from being a hindrance to various diseases outbreak-related pathogen. Health experts have guaranteed that washing hands vigorously for 20-30 seconds is the need of the hour to prevent infection. Recently, the Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region has also highlighted “ Now more than ever we embrace the new normal and live with COVID-19, hand hygiene need to become an integral part of our daily routine and our lives, as we live through this pandemic, and beyond, to protect us from diseases”.
As a precautionary measure to stay safe, there is a dire need to scale up the awareness of health hygiene among the public. With upcoming festivals, the curve may peak again if people stop observing the COVID-19 safety protocol. UNICEF has been advancing the reason for handwashing with cleanser as a key conduct practice through its WASH program. Globally, individuals must update themselves about a dynamic, critical situation, which is still among us, sounding caution and is yet far from the end! Despite the advancement in the reduction of child mortality, a survey showed due to poor hygiene, ~5.3 million children die before observing their fifth birthday celebration (Global Health Observatory data 2018). While it is imperative to continue washing your hands, not squandering water is likewise something to remember.
Around three billion, i.e. 40% of individuals over the world live without water and soap, estimated by WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund and are at the most danger in the fight against COVID-19. Along these lines, there is a basic need to ensure accessibility of safe drinking water and a reasonable cleanser is essential for this backing to beat the infection today and to create significantly better results post-pandemic world. A need to spread attention to efficiently utilize water by shutting taps or utilizing taps with sensors that switch off automatically when one’s hands are not below the tap while scrubbing. Simultaneously, we must enhance our thoughts on sensible utilization of accessible water for accomplishing the target of handwashing, especially walking a tight rope of pandemic! Simultaneously, we must enhance our thoughts on sensible utilization of accessible water for accomplishing the target of handwashing, especially walking a tight rope of pandemic!
One must remain complacent as underplaying the gravity of the circumstances will not help to ward off the infection and spread of disease. Amidst pandemic, recent trend of handwashing popped up, as guided by saying “Prevention is better than cure”. COVID-19 has reinstated there is a need to synchronize good hand washing practice and water-saving needs!
