Should You Wear Gloves in Public?

Do gloves help to protect from us from the COVID-19 virus?

Mask wearing, social distancing, and good hand hygiene are all critical for protecting yourself and others from getting COVID-19. What about wearing gloves while in public?

Brian Niskanen, MD, Welia Health Chief Medical Officer, addresses the this common question.

“Generally, wearing gloves in public settings provides a false sense of security. When wearing gloves, people often touch their faces, their cell phones, and other surfaces, ultimately transferring virus to those surfaces anyway. Also, unless gloves are removed in a specific way, virus can transfer from gloves to hands when taking them off. Washing hands or using hand sanitizer is more effective than glove wearing at preventing the spread of COVID-19.”

Dr. Brian Niskanen is a family medicine physician at Welia Health. He is Welia Health’s Chief Medical Officer and has been practicing since 2004.