Did Covid-19 change our hygiene habits forever?

Though it isn’t the first and it surely won’t be the last but this pandemic has certainly stirred up a controversial debate on hygiene habits”

Long before the pandemic, sanitizers were not considered as things of extreme importance or something indispensable to the safety of human lives. Though the back label on these hygiene products did promise safety from microorganisms but people around the globe didn’t thought so. As soon as the coronavirus outbreak was characterized as covid-19 pandemic by the World health Organization (WHO) in March 2020, governments around the world started recommending their citizens to wash hands frequently or sanitize them with approved hand sanitizers.

Was it really necessary?

From malls to small shopping outlets, every place ran out of sanitizers which were renowned globally for their antibacterial properties making it even harder for the underprivileged to access proper hand hygiene products. After almost a year, the way we live life has been drastically altered by these precautions and hygiene guidelines. Everywhere you go, whether it’s a mall, departmental store, shopping plaza, or grocery store you are greeted with temperature check and disinfection products.

Antibiotic resistance

Some offices and places have gone one step ahead of everyone to set up a sanitizing station that sprays every passerby with sanitizing spray. Come to think of it, not so long ago antibiotic resistance was a big issue around the world and authorities like Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) were recommending people to not use antibacterial products.

Studies were rolling out stating that the efficacy of an antibacterial soap is in no way any superior than that of a simple soap and that usage of such soaps is only adding to the antibacterial resistance. Fast forward few months later, everyone on the planet is now an advocate of using alcohol based hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes.

Other hygiene measures

Hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed in offices around the globe and that is for offices where people are coming to work else a large number of companies have asked their employees to work from home. Apart from hand hygiene, masks also have come into lime light since the pandemic began. Because of the nature of the contamination related to the spread of coronavirus, wearing a mask has been made mandatory all over the globe.

Transmission route

This virus spreads through droplets and the recent understanding is that it can also stay in air up to 3 hours. In order to tackle such issues wearing a mask in a public place is now the new normal. There is a strong sentiment against this decision too and like anti-vaxxers there are people who are anti-maskers i.e. those people who don’t want to wear a mask and in fact are completely against it.

Wearing masks?

They surely don’t know what they are getting into by not wearing masks because masks not only protect you from others but also protect others from you. People are also advised to use antibacterial wipes frequently to clean objects and surface which might have been contaminated. The main idea behind using these products is to cut cross contamination.

For those of you who don’t know even your floors can become home to unwanted germs and in order to clean your floors, you need either antibacterial multipurpose cleaners or surface cleaners. Make sure you are using any of these products as instructed so that you and your family can stay safe and away from unwanted microorganisms.

Follow social distancing?

In addition to these new changes, there is another big measure that has been implemented worldwide – social distancing. Every pub, hotel, cinema, stadium, or place of social gatherings was closed and everybody was advised to stay 6 feet away from each other. No matter what you are doing you need to stay 6 feet apart from each other unless you are in a safe bubble.

People who belong to one household are known as being in the safe bubble and any outsider shouldn’t penetrate this safety bubble. Many people are against this step too. Anyhow, if you are shopping, doing grocery, or just going for a walk these days, you need to maintain 6 feet distance at all times. It’s amazing how time has changed.

To be honest you don’t need to go out for unnecessary things, only go out for tasks that are super important. All of these hygiene measures are equivalent of life saving drugs nowadays as you don’t know which person might be infected or carrying the virus.

So this is how life has changed around us, from attending events in jam packed stadiums we are now forced to stay indoors with family or at times, alone. As for hygiene measures, we might get to relax a bit as soon as we have vaccine for this disease.

Social caption: Though it isn’t the first and it surely won’t be the last but this pandemic has certainly stirred up a controversial debate on hygiene habits”