Is washing hands and sanitizing touch points (like doorknobs) ever not effective at preventing disease? Hand Washing seems to be one of the few things doctors have never wavered on since the beginning of germ theory.
It's not effective in cases where the disease is neutralized by the environment before you would wash your hands anyways. A lot of diseases can't survive outside the body for long; I think this is more true of viruses than bacteria, but I could be wrong.
E.g. HIV doesn't last long outside the body. By the time blood dries, almost all of the HIV is neutralized.
I think the research has said COVID is similar, and can really only live on a surface for minutes.
Hand washing is great for preventing disease generally. It's less effective against some diseases, but it also has virtually no downsides, so it's still a sane thing to do.
E.g. HIV doesn't last long outside the body. By the time blood dries, almost all of the HIV is neutralized.
I think the research has said COVID is similar, and can really only live on a surface for minutes.
Hand washing is great for preventing disease generally. It's less effective against some diseases, but it also has virtually no downsides, so it's still a sane thing to do.