Does Hand Sanitizer Kill Coronavirus?

The world is now experiencing a global crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic. Many lives have been taken due to this deadly virus. Medical experts are saying that to help stop the spread of the disease, people must keep clean hands. The best way to sanitize the hands is by washing them with soap and water. However, in the absence of these, a better alternative is using hand sanitizers.

Does hand sanitizer kill coronavirus? The main ingredient of a hand sanitizer is alcohol. Experts say that to be effective in killing several bacteria and viruses (including the coronavirus), alcohol content must be at 60% minimum. Less than that would make any hand sanitizer ineffective. It is always best to look for labels when purchasing hand sanitizers. The alcohol content of hand sanitizers kills certain viruses by denaturing. This process inactivates the protein content of viruses. When the alcohol comes in contact with the virus protein, it hardens and eventually kills the virus.

There are two types of viruses when it comes to outer wrapping. They are enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. This goes the same for some harmful bacteria. Hand sanitizers with more than 60% of alcohol content effectively kill both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. It is said that alcohol is more effective in killing enveloped viruses than non-enveloped ones. Fortunately, coronavirus is an enveloped virus so hand sanitizers can effectively kill this virus. To effectively kill the coronavirus, it is still highly recommended to wash hands with disinfecting soap and clean water. However, in situations when these are unavailable, hand sanitizers may help. To effectively kill coronavirus, rub hands thoroughly with hand sanitizer until it dries up. Wiping them at once will not effectively kill the coronavirus. Let the hand sanitizer stay in hands for a longer time.