There’s never been a better time to wash your hands. Actually, there’s no bad time to keep your hands clean. It’s one of the easiest ways to stay well by avoiding the viruses and bacteria that can hitch a ride on your hands and end up making you sick. And though COVID-19 is mainly spread through the air, medical experts continue to recommend regular hand-washing as the pandemic continues.
When people keep their hands clean, it reduces infections of all kinds, which is why hand-washing is stressed so much in hospitals, schools and other spaces where many people gather. Immune-compromised people, such as those who have primary immunodeficiencies, have even more reason to wash up and ask others to do the same, experts say. If your doctor or nurse doesn’t hit the sink or use hand sanitizer before examining you, it’s OK to ask them, said Dr. Arjun Srinivasan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.