Americans across the country have decided to wear gloves when grocery shopping or getting other essential goods to prevent catching the Wuhan coronavirus. But Molly Lixey, a Registered Nurse in Michigan, was frustrated by the number of people who are wearing gloves but aren't thinking about cross-contamination factors.
"If you want to wear gloves that's all fine and well, you absolutely can, but I wanted to remind you of a little thing called cross-contamination," she said in a video posted on Facebook.
Lixey put on gloves and used paint to show how germs spread, even with gloves on.
She pretended to be at the grocery store, where she picked up a pack of toilet paper that had germs on the outside. Then, she touched her hands together, which caused the paint to spread.
She then pretended to get a text message from her husband, at which point she picks up her phone and replies. The paint (and germs) are then on the phone.
Lixey pretended to scratch her nose with the gloves on her hand, at which point the pretend germs are then on her face.
Then, her makeshift phone rings. She picked it up, put it against her ear, at which point paint Is then on her cheek and near her ear.
When everything is said and done, she took off the gloves and touched her cell phone, which is contaminated with the germs.
"Look," she said, holding up her paint-filled hands. "This is called cross-contamination. There's no point in wearing gloves if you're not going to wash your hands every time you touch something. There's no point, friends."
"Do whatever makes you feel safe, but, remember, there's some science here," Lixey said. "And all this fear is just manifesting people into being crazy and not acting very smart."
The nurse said it's okay for people to wear gloves but they need to make sure to continually wash their hands.
"Don't touch your face," she said, pointing to the spots of paint. "Don't touch your dirty, disgusting phone."