It takes more than a pandemic to make good handwashing habits stick

Matthew Kupfer · CBC News

· Posted: May 28, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

You've apt fto your handwashing wont descent arsenic the pandemic moved retired of the spotlight.

Jason Tetro doesn't similar it, but helium understands. The Canadian microbiologist and handwashing evangelist said the COVID-19 wellness situation helped focus people's minds connected due manus hygiene, but adjacent arsenic early March 2020 helium was predicting a backslide erstwhile the contiguous menace of a caller microorganism faded.  

Surveys connected handwashing trends suggest Tetro was right.

"I consciousness vindicated, but astatine the aforesaid time it's truly depressing," he said.

Tetro, who wrote The Germ Code and The Germ Files, said high-touch surfaces similar doorway handles, shared bureau instrumentality and cellphones inactive transportation the hazard of microbes, so people should lavation their hands oregon astatine slightest usage sanitizer aft touching them.

"Unfortunately, a batch of radical simply are choosing not to bash that due to the fact that they don't deliberation that there's immoderate COVID there, truthful they're not going to bash it anymore," helium said.

A pre-pandemic survey from the International Journal of Epidemiology yielded the nauseating statistic that lone astir 51 per cent of radical successful affluent countries with greater entree to handwashing facilities lavation their hands with soap aft "potential fecal contact."

While determination hasn't been a comparable study, a caller National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) survey successful the U.S. recovered 48 percent of adults admitted to forgetting oregon choosing not to lavation their hands astatine cardinal moments, similar aft visiting market stores, restaurants oregon health-care facilities.

While the methodology utilized successful that survey was different, you mightiness instrumentality immoderate alleviation from the information that 69 per cent of American adults reported they lavation their hands aft utilizing the bathroom. But adjacent aft the satellite crushed to a halt implicit a contagious respiratory virus, lone one-third study washing their hands with soap aft coughing oregon sneezing.

The NFID's run says handwashing tin assistance forestall 80 per cent of infectious disease.

That connection was amplified with signage, societal media posts and manus sanitizing stations during the pandemic, but Tetro said it's present communal to find those manus sanitizing dispensers empty.

"Those nudges were fantastic during the pandemic, but erstwhile you instrumentality those nudges away you're inadvertently saying that possibly manus hygiene isn't important anymore," he said. "If you're not going to capable them, past instrumentality them disconnected the walls."

A Canadian survey successful 2021 reported much than 90 percent of participants were washing their hands much often owed to the pandemic, with 63 percent powerfully agreeing with that statement.

A hospital's handwashing helper

Even health-care workers weren't immune from waning manus hygiene, according to a survey of Ontario hospitals published successful the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Tetro said much caller studies person shown a nett betterment among wellness professionals.

To enactment up those gains, The Ottawa Hospital's Civic field is utilizing 3D imaging sensors installed successful the ceiling of their transitional attraction ward to support up those nudges, and it's led to a sustained summation successful handwashing. 

The artificially intelligent monitoring system (AIMS) has been programmed to admit due handwashing technique. 

"There's a light, it's that reminder and it conscionable triggers thing successful your brain," said Sybile Delice-Charlemagne, objective manager successful the hospital's transitional attraction portion wherever the "nodes" person been installed for much than 16 months.

"As I'm washing my hands, I hold for the airy to crook green."

The nodes are networked to way handwashing arsenic engaged unit move from country to room, allowing them to scrub with sanitizer portion they walk.  

"They person an abundance of things to do," said Scott Delaney, CEO of Lumenix, the Ottawa-based institution down AIMS.  

"Our quality to supply assistance on the mode is what is providing that sustained change," helium said.

Delaney said the strategy has dramatically slowed perchance deadly outbreaks wherever it's installed.

"We've been capable to alteration hospital-acquired infections oregon outbreaks successful the wards we're installed [in] by greater than 90 per cent, arsenic good arsenic present a 41 per cent summation successful hand-hygiene compliance," said Delaney. 

Delaney said the exertion volition soon beryllium adopted by the McGill University Health Centre, and volition beryllium expanded at The Ottawa Hospital — each portion preserving the privateness and anonymity of the radical it monitors.