The COVID-19 Pandemic and Hand Hygiene

As in protection from healthcare-associated infections, protection from all infectious agents requires an evidence-based, scientifically supported infection control program. Today, all over the world, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shed light on the needs of countries by publishing a comprehensive infection control program. A novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has been announced by these organizations at a global scale as of January 30, 2020, and the attention of the whole world has been drawn to infection prevention practices. The leading, cheapest, and most reliable measure among the infection prevention practices is hand hygiene. Practicing proper hand hygiene has a significant influence on the transmission of infectious agents by contact. Proper hand hygiene practices are inevitable in preventing infections, both in healthcare institutions and in public areas. It has been observed that hand hygiene practices are also vital for the novel coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic announced as of 2020. Therefore, performing hand hygiene practices correctly and at the right time in light of the guidelines published by the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Turkish Society of Hospital Infections and Control will be an important step in ensuring effective infection control. The aim of this review is to describe hand hygiene and emphasize its importance in the light of guidelines on pandemic processes and hand hygiene.