Keep Scrubbing: Why It’s Still Important to Wash Your Hands as COVID-19 Cases Decline

• In a new study, researchers say that handwashing by medical professionals has fallen to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels as cases decline.
• They add that the general public’s habits are probably similar.
• Experts say that handwashing can reduce the spread of COVID-19 as well as the flu and other infectious diseases.

When asked to step up our handwashing game at the start of this pandemic, most of us embraced the practice.

We were told to sing “Happy Birthday” (sometimes twice) while firmly scrubbing between fingers and up the wrist.

But now, as the number of vaccinated people continues to increase and restrictions are slowly lifted, researchers say that we seem to be forgetting about the handwashing.

Experts emphasize: We need to remember.

According to a study published this week in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, handwashing compliance among medical professionals has fallen back to pre-pandemic levels: just 51 percent versus 90 percent in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rachel Marrs, DNP, RN, a study author and the director of the Infection Control Program at the University of Chicago Medicine, told Healthline that the general public will typically follow the lead of the medical community.

In other words: We’re all probably slacking.