Want to stay healthy? Learn to wash your hands the right way.
Just keep soaping. (DepositPhotos/)Whether you’re anxious about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 or simply fretting over the usual spread of seasonal influenza, there is a simple and easy way to reduce your risk of catching communicable diseases: washing your hands. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls hand washing “one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs,” and notes that basic hygiene can cut down on both the transmission of both upper respiratory infections like a cold or the flu and of diarrheal diseases like norovirus.Just how effective is washing your hands in preventing illness?There’s a reason the World Health Organization holds hand washing in high esteem: It works. While many people have been buying and hoarding face masks to protect themselves from COVID-19, the WHO and other health organizations actually advise against their use by healthy individuals. If...