Covid-19. The coronavirus that’s disrupting world economies.
People all around the world have been told not to touch their noses, mouths and faces during this period.
That’s because the Covid-19 is a virus that’s transmitted via respiratory droplets (from sneezes or coughs).
The coronavirus has been shown to be able to survive on surfaces for a few days.
And if someone were to touch their faces with contaminated fingers, they will get infected with the disease as well.
Unfortunately, That’s Easier Said Than Done
Not touching our faces with our hands seems like common sense but its something that’s hard to accomplish.
Have a pimple on our faces? Use fingers to try and squeeze it out.
Have the urge to dig for gold? Let’s goooooo.
Yes, habits are hard to break.
Even For This US Official
Sara Cody is the public health director of Santa Clara County in California.
At a press conference, she was introducing some guidelines to the public, including this particular point:
“Start working on not touching your face, because one main way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose or eyes.”
Except moments later, she did this.
Coronavirus instructions.
Wait for it…pic.twitter.com/WvnKBwKUtb— Rex Chapman?? (@RexChapman) March 4, 2020
For the benefit of those who didn’t play the video, here’s what she did:
She licked her finger to turn a page.
You can call the incident…finger lickin’ good.
Naturally, the internet managed to capture the moment and made her into an overnight sensation.
Not The Only US Official To Be Caught
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a popular young politician whose journey to Congress was covered in a Netflix documentary, also got the attention of netizens when she was speaking to reporters, asking people to avoid touching their faces.
.@RepAOC @AOC speaks to media on #coronavirus: “One of the key parts to preventing transmission is washing you hands and not touching your face…A mask will not protect you if you don’t wash your hands and if you continue to touch your face.” pic.twitter.com/WNmC3pLAUP
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 28, 2020
Donald Trump, too, wasn’t spared when he tweeted about ‘not touching his face for weeks’.
TRUMP: “I haven’t touched my face in weeks. It’s been weeks. I miss it.” pic.twitter.com/TUYRhQmivQ
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) March 4, 2020
Here’s President Trump on Monday during a coronavirus meeting https://t.co/yA7mJ2qjBL pic.twitter.com/kM4e4aDqdU
— Tyler Bartlam (@tylerbartlam5) March 4, 2020
Habits Take Time To Change
While these US officials might not be the best role models, the things they’re telling the public is what researchers and doctors have been saying for weeks now.
In Singapore, a task force was created to help Singaporeans get into the habit of keeping themselves and public spaces clean.
If you have a bad habit of touching your face like my colleague, itchyhands84, you can try to keep a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitiser with you.
Every time after you touch a surface (like a door handle or MRT handholds), just use the hand sanitiser if there are no suitable washing points around.
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Just make sure you don’t go around the lift lobbies and steal hand sanitisers from bottles that were placed there for community use, yeah?
With that said, do keep yourself updated with MOH’s website on Singapore’s Covid-19 situation.
