It takes more than a pandemic to make good handwashing habits stick [Video]

You’ve likely let your handwashing habit slide as the pandemic moved out of the spotlight.

Jason Tetro doesn’t like it, but he understands. The Canadian microbiologist and handwashing evangelist said the COVID-19 health crisis helped focus people’s minds on proper hand hygiene, but even as early March 2020 he was predicting a backslide once the immediate threat of a new virus faded.  

Surveys on handwashing trends suggest Tetro was right.

“I feel vindicated, but at the same time it’s really depressing,” he said.

Tetro, who wrote The Germ Code and The Germ Files, said high-touch surfaces like door handles, shared office equipment and cellphones still carry the risk of microbes, so people should wash their hands or at least use sanitizer after touching them.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people simply are choosing not to do that because they don’t think that …