Viruses become illnesses when they are passed from your hands into your body. By touching an infected surface and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth, you could be infecting yourself.
The problem is that it is easy to touch your face without realising. We often do things automatically, like resting your face in your hand, rubbing an itchy eye, or touching your lips. But if you try the following tips you might be able to cut down how often you do it:
- Try to work out what your hands do most when touching your face - then try to work out how to avoid doing this
- If you use soap or gel that smells you will notice it when you raise your hands to your face.
- Why not ask other people to tell you if you are touching your face?
- If you really need to touch your face, you can make your hands safe by washing them first – or if you can’t, using a clean tissue to stop your hand having contact with your face.
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