Honest question: with the hand washing thing, how are people transmitting? Shaking hands and then touching their face? Surely there’s another way to transfer the virus?
It's still unknown how the virus transmits.
The whole "wash your hands, don't touch your face" is just good general advice for the prevention of disease. But if this virus is airborne, you can rub your hands underwater till they bleed and you're still SOL.
This is why the whole mask thing is stupid. Unless you're also wearing airtight goggles, and take the mask off, discard it, and immediately wash your hands--and the goggles, you've exposed yourself to the virus if it's been around you.
Your eyeballs are a direct line to your bloodstream. If someone sneezes around you, do you shut your eyes and cover your nose and mouth for long enough that anything riding the wave of microscopic spittle released into the air has had a chance to dissipate/die?
Honestly, an early quarantine would've been the only way to prevent the pandemic. But that's not feasible in the world of "get your lazy derriere to work" thinking. It's going to be interesting to see how (or if) this thing spurs remote accessibility going forward.
