Wear Gloves -- and here's why, by Laurie Garrett

[mainer]

I'm posting this in response to another post on GD where the question "shouldn't we wear gloves?" was shot down. In fact, wearing gloves is exactly what we should be doing while out in public. I myself keep a pair of washable gloves in my purse and as soon as I step out of my car, I don them. When I get home, I throw them right in the washing machine.

I have a dozen pairs, so there's always a spare pair in the glove compartment.

(Laurie Garrett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer)

1. When you leave your home, wear gloves—winter mittens or outdoor gloves—and keep them on in subways, buses, and public spaces.

2. If you are in a social situation where you should remove your gloves, perhaps to shake hands or dine, do not touch your face or eyes, no matter how much something itches. Keep your hands away from contact with your face. And before you put your gloves back on, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water, scrubbing the fingers. Put your gloves on.

3. Change gloves daily, washing them thoroughly, and avoid wearing damp gloves.

4. Masks are useless when worn outdoors and may not be very helpful even indoors. Most masks deteriorate after one or two wearings. Using the same mask day after day is worse than useless—it’s disgusting, as the contents of your mouth and nose eventually coat the inside of the mask with a smelly veneer that is attractive to bacteria. I rarely wear a face mask in an epidemic, and I have been in more than 30 outbreaks. Instead, I stay away from crowds, and I keep my distance from individual people—a half meter, about 1.5 feet, is a good standard. If someone is coughing or sneezing, I ask them to put on a mask—to protect me from their potentially contaminated fluids. If they decline, I step a meter (about 3 feet) away from them, or I leave. Don’t shake hands or hug people—politely beg off, saying it’s better for both of you not to come in close contact during an epidemic.

From Laurie Garrett's article in Foreign Policy

https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/25/wuhan-coronavirus-safety-china/

[enough]

1. Thank you. NT

[intrepidity]

2. Hold on. Those are wool or woven gloves

Big difference. Most people assume gloves mean nitrile or latex, which are smooth surfaced.

Textured gloves are better for this purpose.

As usual, the devil is in the details.

Thanks for bringing this up.

[mainer]

3. Yes, she doesn't say latex gloves

which are not washable. (And latex gloves would be pretty off-putting in public.)

We may have to go back to the fashion of the past, when ladies wore gloves in public.

[uppityperson]

5. You can use hand sanitizer or soap and water to clean disposable gloves

[mainer]

9. Haha, I worked in the South Pacific where we cleaned latex gloves

because they were in such short supply in the hospital where I was. But they get really sticky and you have to keep shaking talcum powder in them to be able to don them.

[uppityperson]

15. There is that.

[intrepidity]

26. This. Even wearing gloves, I would use foam alcohol

However, be aware that the alcohol degrades the gloves and makes them more prone to ripping. But risk reward situation.

[intrepidity]

8. Yes. It's all about public education

And, at least on DU, that's what we are engaged in.

We need to be more careful (and I'm speaking to myself here too, of course) to define our terms more specifically.

Gloves is a generic term, and in our current context, we must describe and understand functional differences, like gloves used to protect the wearer vs gloves used to protect the environment from us ( as in a cleanroom environment).

[58Sunliner]

4. I have to disagree about the mask. She has never been in a Covid-19 epidemic.

And that personal space? Way too short for this virus. They are recommending 3 meters minimum. Hong Kong did a study after people started wearing masks for C-19 and infectious disease transmission was significantly reduced in the general population. They credit masks for slowing the rate of transmission and reducing the number of infections. As for that smelly veneer-just a quick spray with alcohol and let it dry or use a dryer shelf and put it through a cycle on high. Heat should not be an issue. If masks were of no use, respiratory therapists and medical personnel would not bother using them.

[mainer]

7. Masks are most useful if they're worn by those already infected

Because they're the ones spewing droplets with viruses.

If everyone work masks, then those who are asymptomatic (or not yet symptomatic) would be less likely to infect others.

[58Sunliner]

10. That's true. And without testing, who is going to know??

[intrepidity]

11. More to the point, if everyone wore masks

the supply would be gone in a day.

[mainer]

12. Very good point.

Which is why wearing masks should probably be a secondary precaution (unless you're symptomatic)

[intrepidity]

17. Yes. Trump fucked up, so we're past containment

and are at mitigation. Which involves many more compromises than containment would've.

[Delphinus]

19. Yep.

Sadly.

[LisaL]

22. That's exactly right.

If people who are infected wear masks, it would protect those around them. Since people don't know if they are infected before the symptoms show up, if everyone wore masks all the time, obviously it would cut the rate of infection. But we don't have nearly enough masks.

[CottonBear]

6. I wear nitrile coated, stretchy, form fitting gardening gloves.

I throw them in the washer (in a net bag) regularly. I use them for my work, which is outdoors. However, I’ve also started wearing them for pumping gas, shopping, opening doors, etc.
Keep them in your car and your bag/backpack. I put clean ones in a Ziplock bag and dirty ones in a plastic shopping bag on the floor of my car.

[Raftergirl]

13. I bought a really nice and warm pair

gloves when I was in Iceland last year. I don’t leave the house without them on as my hands get so chapped in cold weather. They are made of some kind of synthetic.

But, I haven’t washed them in awhile.

I’m going to throw them in wash right now!

[safeinOhio]

14. Wow, 4 hours ago I was in Harbor Freight

and bought a box of 50 pairs of Nitrile gloves. They are a compromise between latex and vinyl.

Was there to get a trailer hitch ball and saw them and grabbed a box. Wore a pair at the next store and seem to be perfect for in public.

[emmaverybo]

16. Unless you wash the gloves in bleach, aren't you just getting germs on your washing machine

and dryer?

[intrepidity]

18. The virus is actually very vulnerable to soap and water

It's outer shell is fairly easily compromised when exposed to detergents.

[emmaverybo]

31. Thanks.

[Nay]

20. No, the outer coating of the virus is pretty fragile, so it's killed by soap, water, and

agitation in the washing machine.

[emmaverybo]

30. Thank you.

[jayfish]

21. So Basically...

Don't touch your hands or face and wash your hands. Gloves will do nothing for this and we seem to be learning the wrong lessons.

[Ms. Toad]

23. Gloves minimize the transmission from objects being touched to your hands.

And provide a tactile reminder not to touch your face.

Because wearing gloves is not going to be perfect, don't even touch your face with your bare hands.

[Raftergirl]

24. Can't we do both?

I wear my gloves and I come home and wash my hands.

I’ve been really trying to mindful about not touching my face. It’s not as easy as it sounds, though.

[jayfish]

25. You Can.

I just see it as superfluous and not all that helpful in a practical sense.

[apcalc]

27. My pulmonologist told me to wear a mask if in crowds.

[tinrobot]

28. The virus infects through respiration. Staying away from people who breathe is your best bet.

Gloves might help, but only tangentially.

Masks might also help, but most surgical/dust masks don't have a tight enough seal to mitigate the virus.

[procon]

29. Cloth gloves? Is that what she means?

Since she mentions mittens, I'm presuming that's her idea of preventative measures. I don't see any benefits to using cloth or knitted gloves which are porous and do nothing to prevent anything from penetrating to your skin. Plus she says as your hands and then put on the same dirty gloves, is that right? She's contaminating everything she touched.

I don't know why she wound not use latex exam gloves that are cheap, disposable and intended to protect the skin.

[cwydro]

32. Interesting. She also shoots down wearing masks.

So many post here they have masks they “wash” and “rewear” which is just silly.

Pretty much, you can find anything you want to back up your claim of masks or gloves.

I plan to keep washing my hands.

[Nature Man]

33. You can wash your hands until they are bloody,

you can stockpile mountains of toilet paper, gloves, and masks

you can swim in an ocean of antibacterial solution

but when it is your time to go, IT IS YOUR TIME TO GO: AND THERE ISN'T A MOTHERFUCKING THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.

[lady lib]

34. Question: Would cotton gloves be sufficient?

Does anyone know?

I live in Phoenix and it's already heating up here.