In this current heightened time of concern in regards to viruses of all types, it would behoove government authorities to put forth comprehensive plans to address what is the best way to achieve good hygiene. For instance, the United States has believed for decades that soap and water is the most effective means of successfully removing germs from a person's hands, of which, the general rule of thumb is for people to spend twenty seconds of time utilizing soap and water, before drying one's hands with a clean towel or paper towel. While, no doubt, there is probably study after study demonstrating the good effectiveness of that soap and water, when following these directions to the "T"; what hasn't been looked at nearly enough, is how often in the real world, that people, whether at home or outside such, actually spend the necessary time needed with soap and water to get that effectiveness in reality.
The fundamental dilemma with soap and water, comes down first to the fact that the water so being utilized itself must be clean water to begin with, the soap must have excellent cleansing agents, followed by the length of time that the soap and water combined is required to successfully perform its objective, and finally there is the necessity of a clean and uncontaminated towel to dry one's hands. All of these things combined, are necessary to get the proper result, which thereby removes germs, and of which, the average person, probably seldom actually accomplishes each of these necessary things, and therein lays the main problem with our current usage of soap and water.
While it is true, that enough repetition, may in fact, get people to change habits of long standing, as well as to develop good habits in the first place, the reality seems to say, that most people, as much as they might want to, just aren’t ever going to get the soap and water routine, down right. In addition, clean running water may not always be available, and time constraints to that washing, may never seem to go away, in addition to the fact, that clean towels may not always be available. Therefore, it would seem that alternatives to soap and water, most definitely have their place, not so much as a replacement to soap and water, but rather to provide to the public another viable choice.
In recent times, the go-to choice to get rid of germs, besides soap and water, is hand sanitizer, of which there are some significant advantages to hand sanitizer, of which one is that having clean running water is not a requirement; in addition, the usage of a dry towel is not necessary, and further the time limit to utilize a hand sanitizer is in effect, less, even when twenty seconds is recommended, because there is no longer a requirement to remain by the sink for twenty seconds or to dry one's hands with a towel, but rather, as long as the hand and fingers are being thoroughly rubbed against each other, until such gets dry, the sanitizer has ably performed its duty.
The bottom line, is that as good as hand sanitizers currently are in regards to the removal of germs, they probably can get even better, and to the degree that the government recognizes that the reality of how people actually go about their hygiene, trumps the effectiveness of soap and water, will probably lead to a better health result, with this or a similar robust alternative.