Wearing gloves in shopping venues or supermarkets can spread viral pathogens to more surfaces, instead of protecting the wearer, a medical expert warned on Tuesday last week.
Most medical gloves are not designed to stop viruses, pulmonologist Ooi Hean (黃軒), director of China Medical University Hospital’s International Center, wrote on Facebook.
While gloves can protect the skin from body fluids and certain harmful chemicals, touching a surface can allow viral pathogens to penetrate the polyester material via microscopic holes at a rate of several thousand per second, he said.
Another risk associated with gloves is inadvertently transferring contaminants to the skin during their removal, he said.
One study on a superbug found that 13 percent of medical workers who handled a contaminated source and then removed their gloves without washing their hands were later found to have the bacteria on their hands, he added.
Gloves are fragile and can tear if not inspected often, he said, adding that dampness, heat and abrasions cause polyester to degrade.
Gloves also diminish a person’s sense of touch — not feeling an object’s griminess or stickiness can prevent them from realizing that it is unsanitary, he said.
“Studies have shown that gloves can give people a false sense of security and encourage them to touch more surfaces, like elevator buttons and shopping carts,” he said.
Wearing gloves in daily life does not protect the wearer or reduce the risk of viral transmission, he said, adding that health experts recommend frequent hand washing.
Wearing gloves is appropriate when providing care for an infectious patient, cleaning, or working around sharp objects or harmful substances, he added.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS