If you’re still able to venture outdoors, you’ll probably notice that some people are wearing latex gloves. But do gloves actually offer any protection from the coronavirus?
Skin Alone Is Great Protection
The coronavirus cannot infect you through your skin. If your hands make contact with the virus, the only way you can become infected is if you touch your eyes, mouth, or nose. This is why experts stress the need to wash hands constantly throughout the day.
Your skin offers great protection because it is waxy and water repellent. If you happen to touch the virus, it will remain on your hands until you wash it off or use some antibacterial hand sanitizer. If you use gloves, in contrast, you’ll be carrying all the virus around with you until you dispose of the gloves. Since you can’t wash gloves, this could be much longer.
But Hospitals Use Gloves…
In hospitals, medical professionals wear gloves for a single task and then immediately dispose of the gloves. They then wash their hands to avoid moving the contaminants from the gloves to their hands.
If you go out wearing gloves, you may find that you need to remove them for some reason, such as to use your phone. As you take off the gloves and put them back on, you may transfer whatever was on the glove to your hands. Plus, will wearing gloves even stop you touching your face? It’s unlikely.
To summarize: you most likely don’t need gloves. A far better strategy for most people is to pay attention to hand hygiene.
