Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, there has been an increase in the use of disposable gloves or latex gloves in public spaces, such as shops and on public transport.
The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend wearing gloves in public as an effective way of preventing COVID-19 infection.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) suggests washing your hands regularly offers more protection against contracting COVID-19 than wearing gloves does.
Gloves do not provide complete protection against contamination; pathogens (things that can cause an infection) can get onto your hands through defects in the glove or your hands can become contaminated when you remove the gloves (WHO-Glove-Use)
Using personal protective equipment such as gloves where they are not needed can result in shortages, and this will affect health-care workers who need to wear them.
To reduce the risk of health-care workers’ hands becoming contaminated with blood and other body fluids
To reduce the risk of germs spreading to the environment and from health-care workers to the patient and vice versa, as well as from one patient to another.
The major transmission route for COVID-19 is via droplets generated when a person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can be breathed in by, or land on others nearby – this is why following the advice on physical distancing is so important.
Things to Remember
Opinions alone are not a reliable basis for claims about the effects of treatments.
Personal experiences or anecdotes alone are an unreliable basis for most claims about the effects of treatments.
Lead Researcher: Dr Sonja Khan, HRB Clinical Research Facility, University Hospital Galway and NUI Galway
Reviewed by: Professor Declan Devane, School of Nursing and Midwifery, HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network, Evidence Synthesis Ireland & Cochrane Ireland, NUI Galway.
Evidence Advisor: Professor Susan Smith, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and General Practitioner in Inchicore Family Doctors, Dublin.
Evidence Advisor: Anne Daly, PPI Ignite, NUI Galway.
Journalist Advisor: Dr Claire O’Connell, Contributor, The Irish Times.
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