As COVID-19 restrictions ease and you find yourself venturing outside more often, remember that good hand hygiene continues to be the best way to protect yourself from respiratory illnesses.
We could all use a refresher on how to wash our hands effectively. Next time you perform hand hygiene, try following these 10 steps. (Click here for a video demonstration.)
Step 1: Wet your hands with water.
Step 2: Apply enough soap to cover all hand surfaces.
Step 3: Rub your hands palm to palm.
Step 4: Interlace your fingers with your palm touching the back of the other hand. Rub back and forth. Do the same on the other side.
Step 5: Face your palms together, interlace your fingers, and rub back and forth
Step 6: Rub rotationally around the base of both thumbs
Step 7: Cup your hand and rub the tips of all your fingers in your cupped palm to clean your nails and nail beds. Do this for both hands.
Step 8: Open up your palm, rub the tips of your fingers in small little circles inside each palm.
Step 9: Finish off the time by rubbing all over your hands, then rinse.
Step 10: Use a paper towel to dry your hands before turning off the water. Once your hands are dry, use the towel to turn off the faucet.
If you follow these steps, hand-washing should take around 20 seconds as recommended by the CDC.
If you don’t have soap and water handy, use hand sanitizer.
More details at: https://health.unl.edu