In the wake of corona virus pandemic, all people in the community have been wearing face masks and gloves in an attempt to protect themselves.
They use masks when they go for buying items to the shops, during taking a walk through the neighbourhood, visiting temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches and other religious places.
The evidence on whether these measures will actually protect people against coronavirus is mixed and doubtful.
Are Masks Protective Against COVID 19?
It is very important that we first separate the two prime functions of a face mask: protecting others from being infected by a wearer and protecting the wearer from the infection from the other person.
COVID-19 is transmitted through the droplets that come out of our mouths or nose, most commonly when when we cough or sneeze, but also during talking.
Most of these particles are too small and range from 0.3 to 1 micrometres. They can be either inhaled or be any surface from where we pick them up on our hands before touching our face.
Importance of Gloves
Gloves prevent us from the transmission of germs if they are properly used. They are also an integral part of PPE kits.
However, gloves have not been recommended as a preventive measure against corona virus for the average individual. That is because, we lack evidence of the disease being easily transmitted or not.
The corona virus is not easily absorbed through skin, so you can’t contract it only through touch. To extract corona virus through touch, you would have touched any contaminated surface and then have touched your face.
- Gloves are not the ultimate of protection for those who are hoping to avoid germs in the public places.
- One shouldn't wear gloves unless they remind you to avoid touching your face as suggested by most doctors.
- One must take extra care to avoid cross-contamination by following the step-by-step guidelines on removing your gloves.
It may also surprise you to know, but the doctors and other healthcare providers say that wearing gloves won't give you an additional layer of protection against the risk of coming in contact with miscellaneous germs. A lot of experts say that, wearing a pair of gloves won't lower your risk of contracting corona virus because wearing gloves provides a false sense of security. The gloves itself are only as good as you are not touching your face with the glove. As long as you've washed your hands or used a hand sanitizer, you have accomplished the same thing.
Here are the ways on how you can properly remove your gloves while minimizing exposure to viruses and bacteria on their surface:
- Pinch the outside of the first glove towards the wrist, but ensure that you do not touch your bare skin.
- Peel the glove away from the hand, pulling it inside out as you do so. Be careful to not rip it amidst the process.
- Hold the now-removed glove in the other gloved hand.
- Peel off the other glove by inserting your fingers inside the glove under your wristband, taking care to not touch the exterior of your glove.
- Turn the glove inside out while pulling it away from the body, leaving the first glove within the second one. After this process, immediately dispose off the gloves in the trash.
People mostly wear gloves for two extremely different reasons. Firstly, they don’t wear them to protect themselves, but they wear them to protect whatever they are touching and the range of microorganisms that are resident to their hands naturally. Without the gloves, the chance of me transmitting something unsavory into the cell habitants could be very high, no matter if the hands are or not.
There are still many microbes present on the hands irrespective of how well you wash your hands and there are always some parts of your hands that are harder to clean than others.
Can Disposable Gloves be Sanitized?
Just like different fabric and cloth masks, doctors suggest that they need to be washed after every single use for best results. You will have to wash them or scrub them thoroughly with soap and water in between uses, plus take all the necessary precautions you would take with disposable gloves too. With necessary and recommended precautions, we can fight through this pandemic together.
