Bring back hand sanitisers

A couple of decades ago critic Barry Ronge wrote about restaurants and mints.

His Sunday column caused quite a stir when he pointed out that the bowls of, at the time, unwrapped mints were unhygienic, because what if someone did not wash their hands after going to the loo or picked their nose before picking a sweet.

Bill folder mints and bowls of them at the exit were wrapped soon after as people realised how gross fellow compatriots could be and that not everyone’s definition of personal hygiene is the same.

When the pandemic arrived a few years ago, hygiene and sanitised living was on everyone’s minds.

ATMs had sanitising spray there was a bottle of hand sanitiser in every bathroom, at every supermarket door, everywhere, almost. It reduced the chance of picking up the nasty Covid virus, but it also prevented other bacteria and germs from being transferred.

Just because the pandemic is gone, it does not mean that bacteria and viruses endemic to surfaces are too. And with many restaurants and public toilets opting for hand dryers, there are no hand towels to touch a surface. And even if there were paper towels, the chances of an empty dispenser are rather high.

Try the built-in ATM sanitiser sprays. I did and several are empty. Trolley wipe dispensers at supermarkets are often empty or gone. There is no free hand sanitiser anymore.

A study in America showed that ATMs can provide a comfortable abode for Staphylococcus Aureus, a bacterium that can cause anything from chest infections to skin boils if it penetrates your system. The person that did not wash their hands in the loo can leave behind the gift that keeps on giving on the keypad, too: E. coli.

And Klebsiella Pneumoniae can mutate into a superbug for a small group of compromised people.

Dear bank, restaurant and supermarket, shopping mall and all public facilities, the least you could do is consider consumer wellness even when it is not demanded by an emergency.