Despite health officials saying it isn㽶Ƶֱt necessary for people to wear single-use gloves to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19, one only has to walk through a grocery store parking lot to see that many people are doing so anyways.
At least, that㽶Ƶֱs how it seems based on the number of littered gloves Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart has seen in parking lots in his community.
Stewart took to social media this week to call out those not properly disposing of their used gloves after coming across a pair left behind in a shopping cart, alongside a grocery list and used napkin.
㽶ƵֱIf you think something is contaminated, leaving it for others is about the most selfish thing you can possibly do,㽶Ƶֱ he said. 㽶ƵֱIf you think something is contaminated, go ahead, take it off 㽶Ƶֱ remove it properly 㽶Ƶֱ and put it in the garbage. This is not the way to do things.㽶Ƶֱ
He added that leaving these things in shopping carts only make the jobs of supermarket staff harder while 㽶Ƶֱtrying to keep you safe.㽶Ƶֱ
It appears the pandemic-style littering is growing into a widespread problem, with gloves being left across parking lots in and Toronto.
Health officials have said that gloves likely won㽶Ƶֱt do much to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Not only do gloves have to be changed frequently in order to be effective, they can also provide a false sense of security for the person wearing them which could actually lead to more ill-advised touching of their face.
Wearing them also takes needed supply away from health-care workers on the front lines of the health crisis.
Instead, health officials recommend using hand sanitizer, as well as washing hands frequently for at least 20 seconds at a time.
Meanwhile, B.C.㽶Ƶֱs provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said this week that people can use non-medical masks to prevent spreading COVID-19 through droplets shed into the environment.
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ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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