Research suggests that were people to more frequently wash their hands during travel, the risk of pandemic infection could be reduced by 24% to 69%
Increasing the hand-washing rate at just 10 key airports with the highest infection spread rate could reduce the risk of a pandemic by as much as 37%
Frequently washing your hands during influenza season and other pandemic outbreaks is a crucial safety measure. Habituated face-touching is a vector for self-inoculation and transmission of infectious diseases, and most people touch their face an average of 23 times per hour
It’s important to wash your hands frequently for at least 20 seconds, using soap and water. Only when soap and water are unavailable is alcohol-based hand sanitizer recommended, as soap eliminates viruses more effectively
Soap very effectively destroys most viruses, including COVID-19. Soap dissolves the fatty membrane that holds the virus together. As the virus falls apart, it is rendered harmless and can easily be washed off under running water
