When store shelves emptied of hand sanitizer and hand soap, memes popped up asking a very important question...was everyone not already washing their hands?! 

We can only hope the hoarding of antibacterial products is the dawn of a cleaner day for all of us. The states of emergency around coronavirus (more officially known as CoVid19) have prompted more vigilant hand washing and awareness around shared public germs. 

This is a friendly reminder that, for your health and that of everyone around (especially compromised individuals), Corona or not, keep scrubbing! 

Here are a handful of sanitary habits you should have already been practicing.

Girl, Wash Your D!mn Hands. 

1. The CDC advises to wash hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. WashYourLyrics.com is a lyric generator so you can sing the 20-second song of your choice while you scrub!

2. Wash often, especially if you’ve just been in public, blown your nose, coughed, sneezed, or used the restroom. A 2017 Rutgers study found that cool water is just as effective at removing germs as hot water; so don’t waste the water waiting for it to warm up. And ordinary soap is fine, don’t stress if you can’t find antibacterial soap.

3. The CDC recommends and sanitizer with 60% alcohol if soap and water aren’t available. 

Stop Touching Your Face

We put our grimy hands on our faces about 23 times an hour. CDC advises against touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unclean hands (duh!). You’re just self-inoculating with the latest funky virus and germs. We know it’s hard, but you’ve gotta make a conscious effort to try.

Cover Your Cough

Why were we ever taught to cough into our bare hands? We almost immediately take that yuck and type on our keyboards, hold our phones, rub our eyes, or (tragically) shake hands. Use a tissue and catch the particle debris, immediately throw it away (and wash your hands). If you can’t grab a tissue in time, direct your nose to your upper sleeve / in the corner of your sleeved elbow. It’s better for all of us this way.

Keep Your Sick at Home! 

If you’ve got cooties, park your booty at home. Even when it’s not coronavirus pandemic season, no one wants your bronchitis, flu, cold, or other gnarly germs. Remote work is one of the greatest developments of these modern times. Put on some cozy clothes and login to the wifi from your couch. This goes for kids at school, going to concerts, restaurants, grocery stores, or anywhere else that’s outside of your home where you’ll make contact with even one other human. 

Disinfect After Yourself

Do not leave the gym until you’ve scrubbed down your weights, treadmill, rowing machine, or any other equipment your skin touched. In fact, do yourself a favor and wipe down before you even start. Super uncool to leave your sweat and other ick on shared equipment.

The company behind apps like 7 Minute Workout and Down Dog Yoga, announced they’d make their popular suite of fitness apps free until April 1, so people who can’t get to the gym can still stay active.

As with most things, priming your body to be an immunity building machine will go a long way toward protecting you from seasonal illnesses and first-of-its-kind pandemics. Get plenty of quality of sleep, drink a lot more water than alcohol, eat clean, nutritious foods...and wash your d!mn hands!