"michael adams" mjadams25@ukonline wrote in message
o.uk...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 04 Mar 2020 00:18:56 +0000, Graham.
wrote:


I've just ordered a litre of IPA, I going to decant it into small
plastic bottles with a little hand cream.

Couldn't find any in the shops.

Typing ALK into Google suggests this is a hot topic.

Lots of recipes he https://tinyurl.com/weypjzh Basically, some sort
of gel, aloe vera is popular, with alcohol, one part gel to two parts
alcohol. It's the alcohol that kills the virus - the gel just stops
your skin drying up, but the mix needs to contain at least 60%
alcohol, so I doubt that IPA would do. Any alcohol seems to be OK.
Rubbing alcohol (isopropanol) is popular, but ethanol seems OK as
vodka is also suggested (but the proportions may need adjusting to
account for its water content, say one gel to three vodka), and I have
a bottle of meths somewhere in the garage.

But HuffPost advises against diy sanitiser, preferring thorough
handwashing instead https://tinyurl.com/t3wy46j

As a matter of interest what is the exact point of any of
this ?

From the Huff Post link there is the much reproduced quote

"The best way to protect yourself from infections like coronavirus is to
regularly wash your hands with soap and water," said Dr Nick Phin,
deputy director at the National Infection Service, PHE, adding that
"proper hand washing is the most effective method and this should
be your first choice".

The suggestion appears to be that the easiest way to pick up this virus
is by touching hard surfaces which (I assume) have been sneezed on or
coughed on by carriers. And then touching your face, more specifically
mouth eyes ofr nostrils. But it must be assumed that for most people
this touching will take place away from home maybe on a bus or train
where there are no hand washing facilities. So the above observation
is pointless


In these circumstances hand washing gel would seem to be the answer
as they are when carried in the car or bike toolkit for cleaning dirty
hands. However unless a person wears gloves, which seems infinitely
preferable to this palaver it would seem to mean that they would either
be having to cleaning their hands constantly with gel or never touching
their face which is an instictive reaction which it would be difficult
to break IMO.

And exactly the same would apply in the home if the idea is to
prevent cross infection by family members. Basically if anyone
touches a hard surface which has possibly been contaminated by a
family member then they will need to wash their hands before
touching their face.

IOW why not simply wear gloves all the time outside (if its ever
thought necessary) , take them off to touch your face, and leave
them on the hall table.

This whole thing has got to be a wind-up, right ?

Wrong, as always.