Handwashing’s down, a telltale sign that normalcy has returned

Life is returning to normal and that includes a lack of hygiene.

Remember that period of the pandemic where there was no soap or hand sanitizer anywhere in town and people were jacking up prices online? Or when our hands were crinkled and sore from washing so frequently? Well those were the glory days. A new study found that the pandemic habits of frequent handwashing have reversed falling to pre-pandemic levels despite COVID-19 still being a risk.

Was handwashing just a pandemic trend?

Handwashing compliance dropped to pre-pandemic levels in workers at a hospital in Chicago just four months after the pandemic began in March 2020.

The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, took a look at the University of Chicago Medical Center and hand hygiene compliance rates where an automated hand hygiene monitoring system during the COVID-19 pandemic were assessed.

During the early stages of the pandemic, hand hygiene compliance reached as high as 100% across cohort units in March. By August, that number took a nose dive to 51.5% — meaning doctors and nurses and just about everyone working in the hospital reverted back to the old ways of hand sanitation.

“High compliance was not sustained and returned to baseline. As hospitals set hand hygiene goals, this study suggests high compliance is possible, even with automated monitoring, yet difficult to sustain,” researchers said in the study.

“Our health care workers were really worried about Covid — they didn’t know who had Covid and who didn’t — so they were extremely careful with their hand hygiene,”Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of infection prevention and control for University of Chicago Medicine, told CNN.

The lack of hand washing at hospitals somewhat mimics data found about general hand washing during the pandemic.

“Hand hygiene is a habit. It’s like wearing your seatbelt, or eating healthy or exercising regularly; it’s something you have to get used to doing,” Landon, the study’s coauthor, said.

The state at hand

A study found that only 57% of Americans were washing their hands several times a day in January, a steep decline from 78% that was reordered in April 2020. The current number is far closer to pre-COVID estimations, where 37% said they washed their hands six or more times.

In addition, just 67% said they were washing their hands for 20 seconds or longer in January. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends washing hands for at least 20 seconds several times a day.

The CDC continues to recommend frequent hand washing with soap and water or with hand sanitizer if soap and water isn’t available. It’s especially important if you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth; touch your mask; enter or leave a public place; or touch an item or surface that could be frequently touch by others.

Hand sanitizer should contain at least 60% alcohol, per the CDC.