If you’ve been out in public recently, you probably would’ve noticed most Malaysians wearing masks in light of the coronavirus outbreak that’s made everyone a little more cautious than usual.
Source: Mothership.sg
While many of us are aware of the basic steps we should take to prevent the spread of the virus (e.g. washing your hands, wearing masks, don’t touch your face), medical officials and health authorities have placed more emphasis on being mindful of the surfaces that you commonly come into contact with.
And if you haven’t noticed, the most common surface that we touch on an hourly basis without even realising is our handphones!
Recently, Kenneth Ma, the director of medical services at MOH Singapore released a statement saying that, “the most common thing that you touch is your phone, [so] you might want to make sure that you clean the surfaces of the phone as and when you touch it.”
Source: Straits Times
According to the Straits Times, the director even said that maintaining the cleanliness of your phone is more important than wearing face masks: “the thing most commonly touched is your phone, so wearing a mask is not the most important thing”.
Many of us use our phones so habitually that it’s practically become a basic necessity in our lives. We don’t really pay attention to what we touch before we pick up our phones or after we touch them, not realising how much bacteria is actually left on the surface of our screens at the end of the day.
Source: Your Health Today
In fact, scientists from the University of Arizona have actually conducted a study that shockingly revealed how handphones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats!
As gross as that sounds, it does remind us of the importance behind cleaning our phones regularly. If not for the sake of hygiene, than at least to prevent the spread of the dangerous viral outbreak that has taken the world by storm lately. What do you guys think of this?
Also read: Coronavirus Can Survive On Surfaces For Up To 9 DAYS Instead of Just 5 According To New Findings
