Keeping your hands clean can stop the spread of germs and keep you healthy. Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of microbes on them in most situations. Wash your hands before, during, and after preparing food, before eating food, before and after caring for someone who is sick, before and after treating a cut or wound, after using the toilet, after changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has, used the toilet, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing, after touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste, after handling pet food or pet treats, after touching garbage. And keep in mind that the menu, at your favorite restaurant, has been handled by people who came straight from the bathroom.

Wet your hands with clean, running water, preferably warm, turn off the tap, and apply soap. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Rinse your hands well under clean, running water. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air-dry them. Then use the towel to open the door, throwing the towel in the garbage.

If you don’t have soap and clean, running water, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of microbes on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs. Hand sanitizers are not as effective when hands are visibly dirty or greasy. Apply the product to the palm of one hand (read the label to learn the correct amount). Rub your hands together. Rub the product over all surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.

Think I’m overstating the obvious? Fleas in two Arizona counties tested positive for bubonic plague. (Time Aug 28, 2017) Welcome to the new world of digital overloud, incompetence, ecological neglect, rapid dissemination of knowledge and incurable new pandemics.

Satoru