Coronavirus Questions Answered: Gloves In Public

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Miller from the east side asked: “Is it safe to wear cloth gardening gloves while shopping, then toss them into a bucket of detergent and water when I get home?”

University Hospitals’ Dr. Amy Edwards said this idea is fine, as long as you don’t touch your face, and soapy water is a recommended way of cleaning cloth, like Miller’s gloves.

However, she said it’s OK to go out without gloves and wash your hands when you get home. The virus isn’t able to penetrate skin, said Edwards, so it doesn’t matter how much of it gets on your hands, as long as you don’t touch your eyes, nose and mouth.

The Cleveland Clinic also recommended against wearing gloves in public, saying they give people a false sense of security. They say you could end up touching your face more than if you weren’t wearing gloves, which would expose you to the virus and defeat the purpose of wearing gloves.