(INSIDER) – Amid the panic over the coronavirus outbreak, it seems, people have forgotten that soap and water are our best defense against disease.
Pharmacies are full of people looking to stock up on hand sanitizer. Demand reached such a fever pitch this week that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state would be producing a free sanitizer. On Ebay and Amazon, hand sanitizers have been sold at a 200% markup.
Intriguingly, some Twitter users have reported witnessing people frantically stock up on hand sanitizer, but ignoring the soap available.
And yet, soap is the best defense we have, experts say.
“The humble act of washing with soap and water, followed by drying with a clean towel is the gold standard,” Elizabeth Scott, an expert in home and community hygiene and professor at Simmons University, told Insider. “Hand washing with soap employs mechanical action that loosens bacteria and viruses from the skin, rinsing them into the drain.”
The drying that follows makes the skin less hospitable to the bacteria and viruses that can make us sick.
Read full article (https://www.insider.com/why-soap-is-better-defense-against-coronavirus-than-hand-sanitizer-2020-3)
