Regularly washing or sanitizing your bare hands offers more protection against contracting COVID-19 than wearing gloves. Dr. Syeda Sadaf Akber, Infection Control Manager of Hashmanis Group of Hospitals said that hand washing is most and crucial factor of personal hygiene because gloves can easily become contaminated if they make contact with objects or surfaces that contain the virus on them. If a person touch these objects or surfaces while wearing gloves and then touch their face, they can become infected with COVID-19. So instead of wearing gloves, Dr. Sadaf recommended that practicing good hand hygiene by frequently washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using an 60 % alcohol-based hand sanitizer are the best method to prevent infection.
When someone wearing gloves in a market or open environment, it’s worth remembering that they may have had them on for hours and might have handled contaminated material with them. Also that if someone has touched a contaminated surface with a gloved hand, they are just as likely to transmit contamination as someone who hasn’t worn gloves. Failing to change gloves when needed is no different from failing to wash your hands.
According to Dr. Sadaf as the matter of fact wearing gloves may make someone less aware that they have contaminated their hand when they might otherwise notice and simply wash them. Wearing gloves are only really useful when hand washing is either not possible or insufficient to prevent chemical or biological contamination. And if they are worn, will need to be changed as often as hands need to be washed.
