Hand sanitizers in public spaces not always up to scratch: report

Hand sanitizers provided at shops, schools, daycares and other public spaces are not all effective in curbing the spread of the coronavirus. According to the RIVM, sanitizers must contain at least 70 percent alcohol to kill the coronavirus. But a significant proportion of offered hand sanitizers don't, AD reports after having NedLab test sanitizers in public spaces.

Of the 21 hand sanitizers tested, five did not contain enough alcohol to be effective against the coronavirus, the newspaper wrote. Hand sanitizer offered at a garden center in Noord-Brabant consisted only of water. A daycare in Breda offered sanitizer with only 3 percent alcohol. The researchers also found lacking hand sanitizers at an optician and a distillery. 

According to the health authorities, proper hand hygiene is extremely important in fighting the spread of the coronavirus. But according to Mieke Waltmans, who is researching infection prevention at Erasmus MC, the hand sanitizers all over public space may have the opposite effect. "Those pumps in public places are more a source of contamination than a help," she said to the newspaper. "There are many people who don't disinfect their hands according to the regulations."