Yes wear gloves. That way you can touch the grocery cart at Wal-Mart, which might be chock full of Covid-19 viruses, and they won't infect your hands, at least for a while. That is a good thing.
However, those viruses can live for quite a long time on the surface of your gloves, and at some point they will find some other path to infect you.
SO WASH YOUR GLOVES IN SOAP AND WATER. I'm not talking about putting them in the washing machine, but leave them on and use hand soap and water. So far I have never heard any health professional recommend this, but it is common sense. Soap contains surfactants, which are molecules that have one end that likes water, and the other end likes to stick to things. Surfactants also stick to COVID 19 and MESSES THEM UP. It's better than alcohol, so they say.
In the interest of sharing contrary views, I've listed an article below which advises against using gloves. The arguments can be valid in many situations: because you probably don't use them right; they will get dirty; you will get overconfident; you don't know how to take off the gloves, etc). But nowhere does the article discuss the possibility of washing the gloves.
Instead, you are recommended to go to Walmart you handle all the foodstuffs and the grocery cart with your bare hands, even if they may have been touched by people who have the virus. So if there are viruses to be had, you put them on your hands first. THEN you wash your hands. I thnk that is stupid.
Shouldn't you kill the viruses BEFORE they have a chance to infect you instead of AFTER? This is so obvious to me, although I admit that many professionals who know more than me recommend the opposite.
I carry a little squeeze bottle with soap and water to wipe my gloves, wipe the grocery cart handle and then repeat the procedure upon leaving the store.
I carry a little squeeze bottle with soap and water to wipe my gloves, wipe the grocery cart handle and then repeat the procedure upon leaving the store.
We know that surfactants (the stuff that is in soap) is lethal to Cononavirus, because the surfactant sticks to the virus and rips it apart. You can use hand cleaner containing over 60% alcohol and it works okay, but the alcohol will soon evaporate. Everything I've read says that soap and water is better, so I'm carrying a bottle with me now in a little squirt bottle.
Why haven't we heard anybody advise washing gloves with soap and water? Maybe fashion experts have told you not to wash expensive leather or silk in water, but I'm here to tell you that lives may be saved if you do. You'll get the money back someday, it's not worth it to risk your life to preserve a fashion statement.
I have some knit fabric gloves with a thin rubber coating for $5, and they are awesome.
Plus a soapy residue (if the gloves are damp for several minutes) may not be a bad thing because, remember, soap destroys coronavirus. The soap may still work for us much longer than alcohol. Caveat: this is my opinion as a scientist, but not supported by experimental evidence at this time.
If you want to read a viewpoint that is 100% opposed to mine, here is an example, but note that the author does not even mention the possibility of washing gloves. I suspect that many writers may simply not have thought of it.. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/you-shouldnt-be-wearing-gloves-to-go-grocery-shopping/ar-BB11YPuZ
Reference for soap killing corona virus: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/health/soap-coronavirus-handwashing-germs.html
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