Obviously we want to reduce the chances of catching COVID-19. Or of giving it unwittingly to family, friends and others. Especially as we may not show symptoms for 5 days or more, if at all, yet still be infectious.
So where do we turn to for advice?
I was about to write about hand sanitisers, so I keyed this search into Woggle “COVID BEST WAY TO WASH HANDS” and then “COVID HAND SANITISER”. As any former boy scout would. Be prepared.
Every country has its own advisory web pages, for the general public and then for businesses, such as the UK’s Health and Safety Executive. The searches not only found the specific information, but unlocked the broader advice provided by each entity.
As a general rule I was disappointed, often bitterly. Unclear, incomplete, yet too much verbiage with little use of graphics or videos.
Let’s look at some of these web sites in turn.
Bear in mind that these web sites do not always agree with each other, such as on testing and the use of face masks. In writing the other posts for this blog I will have looked at each of these sites, and attempted to unravel the inconsistencies.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION
The WHO’s objectives are primarily to influence “public policies” at national level throughout the world.
But they also have a limited section for the general public, including this section on washing hands
How, but not why or when. Nor any warning about inappropriate hand sanitisers:
Indeed they have prioritised alcohol-based hand sanitisers over use of soap and water. The latter is cheaper, more readily available and all the other sources below argue better.
Sadly, this is why I regard WHO advice as only a starting point. There’s better advice out there on a range of topics.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Putting aside the way COVID-19 is spreading in USA, there is actually a lot of good advice available. The problem is it’s being widely ignored.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the bodies that prefers the use of soap and water over the use of sanitisers.
Their hand washing advice includes the what, why and when. Though doesn’t explicitly explain which hand sanitisers are inappropriate.
Here’s the CDC's COVID-19 sub-site.
There’s also the American "Family Doctors.org" .Some basics of hand washing. A long list of when, but no mention of the importance of entering shops or other premises, to avoid touching objects with contaminated hands
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand has been one of the most successful countries in eliminating COVID-19. Their first case was as their summer turned into autumn. So especially relevant to the UK now we’re nearly into August. What is their advice to the public?
This is their advice for washing hands. It includes a section on ‘soap versus sanitiser’ with the general preference for soap. But this web page sadly has no diagrams or videos.
Here is their COVID-19 website, covering not just the health aspects, but also financial support and other aspects.
SWEDEN
Sweden has adopted a different overall COVID-19 strategy to the rest of Europe, by allowing schools and most businesses to stay open. They have relied on a voluntary lockdown that has been almost as effective as statutory ones, but which they believe will be more long-lasting. There’s no need for lockdown to be “eased”, and for people to then go mad as if it’s all over. Which is what we are seeing in places like Spain and indeed the UK.
This relies on educating the public. Part of this educational programme is their extensive website. All the relevant parts are in English
There are differences from other countries’ advice. They have put more emphasis on social distancing. Hence my nickname for their website “No sex please, we’re Swedish”.
The emphasis on social distancing means they do not recommend the use of masks. They are concerned that masks will cause people to stop social distancing. Whereas in England distancing is widely disregarded, so masks sadly have become necessary.
This page contains this advice “Maintain good hand hygiene. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If handwashing facilities are not available, alcohol-based hand rub is an alternative. The alcohol-based hand rub should contain at least 60 % alcohol” That’s 60% by volume, a little less by weight. Surprisingly there is no why or when.
Few if any graphics and videos for hand washing nor throughout the website. But isn’t this the video age?
THE UNTIED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom consists of four nations that are responsible for their own healthcare and COVID-19 strategy.
We therefore have 3 sets of sources:
- UK entities, including individual government departments with a UK-wide brief
- Nations’ medical agencies
- Private sector and other independents, often across the UK such as the “Which?” magazine and website
gov.uk
The UK government also has an elaborate website
But the only mention of washing hands is this at the top of the page “Wash your hands regularly”
Come on guys, you can do better than that! Surely?
National Health Service (NHS)
This is the hand-washing page, which explains how, when and why to wash hands. There are graphics and a video, with the emphasis on soap.
Sadly nothing at all on the use of hand sanitiser. Definitely “Could do better”Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
The HSE is focused on businesses, many of whom have retail customers. Here is their hand washing page. https://www.hse.gov.uk/coronavirus/working-safely/cleaning.htm Again with an emphasis on soap, but:
- no stipulation for the right type of hand sanitiser
- no recommendation for the right types of treatments for work surfaces
- no graphics or videos
I also separately found this page on “Choosing hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants...”, but I can only recommend it for insomniacs. Not a single mention of alcohol.
This is all too poor, to the point of being dangerous. From the safety specialists! More than disappointing.
So the UK official web sites are frankly a disgrace as to advice on something as simple as hand hygiene!
NATIONAL WEBSITES
The national websites only do a partial job on hand washing:
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland : Their main web page doesn’t cover hand washing though I did find this, with an emphasis on soap
OTHER UK RESOURCES
My search identified a number of other resources, including:
BBC Science Focus
A useful web page, but without explicitly discouraging the use of inappropriate hand sanitisers
“Which?”
This is a good web page, but somewhat over-complicated. The answer to the question is simply the following, and what products do or do not comply:
- Soap, or
- Hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol by volume
- Nothing else will do
CONCLUSION
I am bitterly disappointed by the low quality of the main resources available, to advise on something as simple as hand washing. Especially the UK national websites. Sadly this is representative of the sub-standard quality of the websites on other matters.
As to hand washing, whilst we are on the subject, not one resource covered all the basics adequately, which I would conclude are:
- Wash hands with soap and water where possible
- Hand sanitiser should be at least 60% alcohol by volume (a little less by weight)
- Do not rely on other sanitisers, especially anti-bacterial. COVID-19 is caused by a virus, not by bacteria
- Supported by what, how, why, where and when. Especially on entering any shops or other premises, to avoid touching objects with contaminated hands
- Using graphics and videos, not just words
Is that simple list really too difficult? So it appears. On many other topics too.
This blog will endeavour to include postings that are comprehensive, filling in the gaps in official coverage, and attempting to resolve the differences between them.
No comments:
Post a Comment