Gloves in Public?
Gloves in public are an icon of the current time. All over town, people are wearing gloves in public. Sometimes it is that contactless pickup server. Sometimes your fellow grocery customer wears gloves and other times it is the USPS mail carrier. The COVID-19 crisis is still unabated so it is no wonder why gloves seem like the thing to wear to be safe.
We do not need to wear gloves in public. It will not help us, and in fact, can distract from focusing on what actually can and does keep us safe in the midst of the outbreak of the novel, or new, coronavirus.
Gloves, in my opinion, should be left at home. Better yet, leave them to healthcare providers who actually do need them.
Here’s Why Gloves In Public Are Unnecessary
Gloves are simply a second set of skin one uses very temporarily, while completing a task that requires contact with a very likely infected subject. According to the CDC, gloves are important to health care providers who are in direct contact with infected patients. Glove are never, even in these instances, worn from patient to patient. They are discarded after every patient is seen, every room is cleaned, every task performed that requires them. After discarding gloves, health care providers always wash their hands. After an emergency, bystander CPR and First Aid responders should also always get rid of the gloves and wach their hands. Georgia CPR specifically teaches this procedure in CPR Classes.
Wearing gloves in public makes them a vehicle to paint infection from one surface to another. For example, think about eating sardines with gloves. After you eat, you keep on your gloves as you move through your house. You fold laundry, pick up your phone and fix your hair. Soon, those sardine oiled gloves will have spread stinky juices to every surface in your house. Now you have a superfund cleanup site!
Follow the 4 Coronavirus Safety Priorities to be safe:
- Physically distance yourself from others, at least six feet
- Keep your hands away from your face
- Wash your hands often, and for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, or hand sanitizer when soap and water aren’t available
- Wear a mask in public for the sake of others
Gloves show concern and indicates the wearer does their best to be safe. Unfortunately gloves are a false sense of infection control. Focus on more worthwhile priorities.
Leave the gloves alone, focus on the 4 Coronavirus Safety Priorities and be healthy!