Shop’s blunt sign causes stir online after banning gloves in store
A sign from an unknown store has caused furious debate online as it said all those wearing gloves would either have to remove them or be denied entry.
The store, assumed to be located in the U.S, claims those wearing gloves are not stopping the spread of viruses, but in fact possibly creating cross contamination.
“Absolutely no gloves allowed inside store - management,” the note says.
“Gloves are meant to avoid cross-contamination. For instance, in a hospital, workers glove up to touch a patient and then DISCARD the gloves before moving on to the next task. If you are wearing the same set of gloves all over town, you are carrying germs everywhere! Every door you touch, the cart, the supplies, your phone, your face.
“It would be far better to not wear gloves and WASH YOUR HANDS after every store or every task.”
The photograph of the sign was shared over 60,000 times within the span of a week and gravitated many people who agreed with the note writer.
“If you wear a clean pair of gloves into the store, pick up an item put it in your cart then pick up another item your gloves are contaminated, you have no idea who touched that item before you,” one person said.
“Not everyone has common sense or knows anything about cross-contamination,” another wrote.
“People are in fact wearing them store to store. Not even taking them off when they re-enter their vehicle after walking out of Walmart.
“If there’s a medical condition, and you need gloves, wear them. But too many don’t understand their proper use, which isn’t helping and is preventing those that need them, from getting them.”
Some people said they wash their gloves or change them between visiting each store.
“So, I typically wash my gloves or wipe them with a Clorox wipe if going to a new store, usually I just use a new pair for each store. They absolutely are helpful,” said one woman in the comment section.
Dr Catherine Bennett, chair in epidemiology at Deakin University explained to Yahoo News, that there is a risk of gloves transferring virus’ from one surface to another.
“If the wearer is not practicing the usual hygiene and awareness of the surfaces being touched that we should all be practising, this risk of cross contamination of surfaces may be higher with gloves on,” she said.
“If people are less mindful of what they are touching, including their own face, or tissues etc, then this may increase the risk of spreading the virus from surface to surface further.
“It may also undo any protection to the wearer if they are more likely to touch their face with the gloves on with a false sense of security.”
Virologist Professor Ian Mackay, from the University of Queensland urges people to stop assuming a pair of gloves will protect them at all costs. He says they can actually increase the chances of someone becoming sick.
“They will drag their hands all over the place thinking they’re safe, but they’re actually spreading potential viruses to other people,” he said.
“They then leave those gloves, in some cases, in the shopping trolley or in the car park for other people that clean up the shopping trolley to come in to contact with, and risk their health because of laziness.”