Are you washing your hands correctly?
On average, you come into contact with 300 surfaces every 30 minutes, exposing you to 840,000 germs.
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Research suggests 95% of people claim to practice proper hand hygiene, but studies actually have shown that only 67% of them practice any sort of hand hygiene.
Germs and bacteria are literally everywhere, from doorknobs to the soap dispenser in your bathroom.
On average, you come into contact with 300 surfaces every 30 minutes, exposing you to 840,000 germs.
As we try to stop the spread of COVID-19, frequent and proper hand hygiene is crucial.
Yuma Regional Medical Center’s infection prevention manager, Mika Naranjo, said, “I think people have a good idea of how to do it. I definitely think that most people, in general, don’t wash their hands for long enough.”
It is recommended that you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.
“You want enough soap to cover your hands. Scrub [for] 20 seconds, people like to sing Happy Birthday two times,” Naranjo said.
Once you rinse off your hands, before you turn off the water, grab a paper towel and completely dry your hands.
Then grab a new paper towel to turn the water off to avoid contaminating your clean hands.
Naranjo added, “The nail beds are usually where bugs like to hang out. So it's super important to really get your nail beds."
