World Hand Hygiene Day Tuesday 5th May 2020
Tuesday the 5th of May marks the World Health Organization’s Hand Hygiene Day around the world.
Hand hygiene is one of the most important things that we can do to stop the spread of COVID-19 infection, as well as preventing all the other infections that are still out there. This is true for people who work as healthcare workers and also for everyone in the home or in the workplace. Recent research undertaken by the Department of Health shows that in relation to safe behaviours, 96% of people are washing their hands more often as a result of COVID-19. The research also shows that 90% of people who are looking ahead say that they will continue to wash their hands frequently after the pandemic is over. We want people to keep on going with their hand hygiene, help your children to learn good hand hygiene and help us to stop the spread of COVID-19 and other infections.
You can help protect yourself and your family from an infection or superbug:
Wash your hands properly and often:
- After coughing or sneezing
- Before and after eating
- Before and after preparing food
- Before and after touching an open sore or cut
- After using the toilet
- After changing a child’s nappy
- If you were in contact with someone who has a fever or respiratory symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing)
- Before and after being on public transport
- Before and after being in a crowd (especially an indoor crowd)
- On entering and before leaving buildings, including your home or anyone else's home
- After touching animals or animal waste
- After removing gloves if you wear gloves
- Before and after visiting someone in a hospital or residential setting
Regular use of a hand moisturiser will protect your hands from the drying effects of hand hygiene products. If you have dry skin or a skin condition, apply moisturiser after washing and drying your hands.
Have a look at the video on proper hand washing. We often think we have washed our hands properly but have a look at this short experiment and you will be surprised.
Further information
There are lots of tips on hand hygiene on www.hse.ie/handhygiene and you can learn all about bacteria on www.ebug.eu a teaching/ learning resource for schools and colleges (and parents). On ebug you can find out about bugs through quizzes, games and home science experiments.
WHO Hand Hygiene Day - https://www.who.int/infection-prevention/campaigns/clean-hands/en/