By Harry Mulholland
With a second wave of COVID-19 already gaining traction in Australia, it is very important that we as a society are remembering the basics of social distancing and washing our hands frequently to minimise the spread of the virus. I spoke to Jaydan Godley, who is a third year nursing student at the University of Newcastle to give us a refresher for how to properly wash and sanitise our hands.
Step One
According to the World Health Organisation, start by wetting hands with water and applying enough soap to cover the entire hand. Then rub hands palm to palm.
Step Two
After this, place one hand over the other with your fingers interlaced and scrub back and forth, then scrub palm to palm with fingers interlaced. Then scrub the backs of your fingers to palms with fingers interlocked.
Step Three
Then scrub your thumb between the palm and the fingers, then the tips of the fingers against the palm to get rid of materials under the nail. When these steps have been completed, rinse the hands completely with water.
Step Four
After you’ve completely cleaned your hands, dry them thoroughly with a single use towel and turn the tap off using said towel. This entire process should take between 40 to 60 seconds.
When using hand sanitiser, you should follow the first three steps to properly sanitise them.
“Washing your hands is really important, but unless there is visible soil on your hands that you can see, hand sanitiser should be more than enough to keep your hands clean and safe” says Jaydan.
See the World Health Organisation’s guide on hand washing here.