That's because a recent study has found that the coronavirus can thrive on your skin for a pretty long time.
Yikes, definitely not what we want to hear right now.
Unwanted 'visitor'
News agency AFP reported that the coronavirus can survive on human skin five times longer than the flu virus.
According to Japanese researchers, the virus that caused arguably the most widespread pandemic in modern history can remain active on human skin for a whopping nine hours.
For comparison, the pathogen that causes the flu can only survive on human skin for about 1.8 hours.
“The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes Covid-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic,” said the study published in the ‘Clinical Infectious Diseases’ journal.
On a positive note, the report said the use of ethanol, which is an ingredient in hand sanitisers, could kill the virus within 15 seconds.
“The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk.”
There you go, people! Now you know why it is important to wash your hands frequently.