Handwashing?

This is good information. However, not to be argumentative, I don't think anyone says hand washing alone is the end all, be all. It is usually mentioned along with things like staying home if you think you have symptoms and practicing some elements of social distancing. Also, sneezing, coughing into your elbow. Combined, I would think this would increase the % effectiveness of avoiding infection vs. only washing your hands.

But sneezing into the elbow still isn't stopping those droplets from getting to others.

I heard from a friend in NZ that a hair stylist is sick with the virus, and they're trying to track down all 40 of her clients. Someone infected her.

Hi, it’s actually a beautician in Australia with the 40 clients. She had recently returned from Iran.

A reduction rate of 16-21% is significant when you think of the ongoing transmission of respiratory illness. One person washing their hands and not transmitting an illness prevents dozens of other cases down the line. Please don’t think about not washing your hands for at least 20 seconds. We just came off a cruise. The cruise ships have signs everywhere and you don’t need to manually open a door-just hit the button with your elbow. Despite this I still saw guys coming out of a toilet stall going right out the door to dinner. Coronavirus aside, disgusting.

Wash your hands often, use hand sanitizer liberally after you touch surfaces (like a menu, doorknob, handrail), don’t touch your face.

Please do not view my post as discouraging handwashing. It is important and necessary. I have become rather OCD about it; the first thing I do when I return home is do the thorough handwashing.

I just wanted people to know that is it not completely effective in reducing the risk of infection, and people should factor that into their assessment of risk when making travel choices.

As the CDC always recommends there are everyday preventative actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases. See prevention: CDC.gov.

Working in the healthcare setting all my adult life hand hygeine is an effective way to prevent infections. Yes, wash hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds and use hand sanitizers with 60% alcohol (carry it with you) when soap and water is not available. As Alan mentioned good hand hygiene after touching surfaces..

Your healthcare provider is another resource as you look at the pros and cons of canceling your trip.

I don't think anyone has said you can't get sick if you wash hands but it a good habit. Sadly there are many people who don't wash their hands after using a public toilet and touch door handles etc. Proper hand washing and disinfecting work areas and surfaces around you can reduce the risk.

It's like wearing a seat belt when driving. There's a chance a person will get hurt but wearing a seat belt minimizes the severity.

What I hate is after going to the toilet in a public bathroom, and washing my hands, there is only a hot air dryer. No towels. Even though I am diligent, I still have to touch the door handle to get out and the guy behind me may not have washed his hands. I started carrying a handkerchief like they do in Japan. Not to blow my nose, but as a towel to dry my hands and if necessary, a door handle.

I've also started carrying a pack of hand soap sheets for those times the toilet have run out of soap.

https://www.amazon.com/Travelon-Hand-Toiletry-Sheets-50-Count/dp/B001CGOPZM/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=hand+soap+sheets&qid=1583037911&sr=8-4

With these, a bottle of water, and my handkerchief, I can wash my hands almost anywhere. I have hand sanitizer but it always seems to leak in my pocket.

But for respiratory illness, the reduction rate is 16-21% (so actually less than 1 in 5).
I think that's pretty good. It's probably the number one thing you can do - the thing that has the greatest single effect.

Lola, do the studies cited include many underdeveloped tropical locations with fewer URI’s and less running water? A statistic alone is not definitive proof of anything? The Spanish Flu “only” had a death rate of 2-3%. But it killed 50 million people in 1928.

EDIT:
Here's another view of "underdeveloped countries", from today's Nicholas Kristof column in the NY Times. (He travels widely (by backpack) in the third-world, most of the year.) Remember when reading, that 40% of Americans don't have the cash for a $400 emergency or car repair crisis:

"Consider a Florida man, Osmel Martinez Azcue, who returned from China and found himself becoming sick. As The Miami Herald reported, he might normally have gone to a drugstore and bought over-the-counter flu medicine. But because of the risk of coronavirus he did the responsible thing and sought medical attention: He went to a hospital for testing. In the end, it turned out not to be coronavirus — but he was billed $3,270."

Citation: https://nyti.ms/2Tb4Ayg

Hand-washing is one element; keeping your dirty, little hands off your face, away from your nose and mouth is another.

Not out of context at all....virtually verbatim and absolutely correct.
Hand washing is important but it is also important to cover you mouth/nose with a Kleenex/handkerchief if you sneeze or cough. And don't handle things that are handled by others who are not equally careful.
If you are aware of how to deal with flu season you should already be practicing many of the avoidance methods that will be used to deal with Corona.
During the SARS situation there were several folks from our company who regularly traveled to and from China (HK, New Territories, Guangzhou, Fuzhuo, Wuhan, Shanghai, Ningbo etc.) to support our customers during that crisis. None of us were affected by the disease even though we were in the thick of it.
One colleague did get very sick from what may have been SARs during a stay in Hong Kong/Shekou but it was several months before the disease was identified. He was the only one in our group who experienced the disease. Symptoms did not show until two weeks later when we were in Paris for meetings. The hospital treated him for SARs symptoms but since the disease was not known yet they described his problems as an uncertain respiratory disease. Point being, we were all in close proximity for several weeks without getting ill. As long as you are careful and practice good hygiene you reduce the chances.

Washing ones hands for 20 seconds is longer than we all might think. I’ve heard that singing Happy Birthday while washing is about 20 seconds. It is only 15.62 seconds for me when I sing it so I sing it twice.
I taught proper hand washing technique to ancillary medical personnel over many years and was appalled.

The suggestion is to sing Happy Birthday--twice. Not once.

I've heard the suggestion to sing the ABC song. Whatever. You're right that it's longer than we think.

After all is said and done we have to stay vigilant. Prevention is the name of the game. It's all about educating each other. To Frank ll, thanks for mentioning the concern about the door handles. Fortunately I have seen more places providing paper towels and a waste can by the restroom door. There are so many potential public health hazards. I just recently thought about the credit card machines at the stores. We need to punch in our debit/credit pin number. Grocery stores have been providing wipes for cart handles for a long time. All of this is appropriate to prevent other respiratory infections as well. It's common sense.

Frank II - we use individually wrapped hand sanitizer towelettes (CVS store have their own version, Wet Ones brand, to name a couple examples) for travel. They don't leak and there is no 3oz liquids issue when I carry a them all into a plane. It might be worth looking into.

CVS hand sanitizer wipes as one example

I carry small amounts of paper towels with me for drying my hands and exiting public bathrooms as the hot air dryers have been shown to increase the spread of germs, particularly as not everyone uses soap to begin with. Plus bleach wipe your phone regularly as I have seen mentioned in various places. My concern from past travel in Italy is that lots of toilets in small establishments have very limited supplies - often no soap, warm water or paper towels.

I use little alcohol swabs that one can buy in large amounts (400, for example). These are the little individual packets with a small wipe that medical professionals use to swab a person's skin before injecting or placing a needle. Although it does take several to wipe down surfaces on an airplane, it as not as many as you might think. The size and packaging are very convenient for lots of small uses, such as disinfecting the touch screen on a phone.

You can buy them at drug stores but I get them at one of the warehouse clubs (Sam's or Costco).

Let me throw another thought your way........refillable water bottles.

I just got a new collapsible, refillable water bottle. I have no problem filling it before I leave the hotel in the morning. But what about during the day when it needs refilling. Do I really want to trust public water fountains where some people like to put their mouths directly on the faucets? Or have the water bottle out of my sight to let a restaurant employee fill it?

I think for the time being, if my bottle needs refilling, I will buy a bottle of water.

I don’t like the hand dryers either. My biggest pet peeve is the lack of warm/hot water for hand washing in public places. I often wonder if the employees in restaurants have anything other than cold water for hand washing.