Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety goggles, face masks, and protective gloves have become extremely popular since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, PPE products were largely used by healthcare workers in the western world. Only rarely would you see a person wearing a face mask or a set of protective gloves, unless they worked in the healthcare (or perhaps the food-service) industry.
However, the novel coronavirus has changed all that, almost overnight. The prevention of viral transmission and infection has now become a major priority for individuals, communities, and governments around the world. And covering the face and the hands with high-quality masks and gloves appears to be one of the most effective ways of avoiding infection.
Hence, you can suddenly see a massive increase in the demand for masks, gloves, goggles, sanitising wipes, and other such products. However, to maximize the protection you get from using these PPE products, you must first understand what functions they perform and what their main features are. Only then will you be able to select the right PPE products, that will keep you (and your loved ones) safe from the COVID-19 virus.
The Importance of Non-Latex Gloves
It is a well-known fact that the novel coronavirus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, such as saliva, mucus, and other liquids generated by the air passing through the respiratory tract. These droplets are released into the world when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks.
If the person in question is suffering from a COVID-19 infection, then each of their respiratory droplets will contain a concentration of infectious agents. These agents, contained within the respiratory droplets, will then transmit the disease if they come into contact with other humans.
If you are standing directly in front of an infected individual, then their respiratory droplets can expose you to the disease every time they cough, sneeze, or even talk. This is why the wearing of face masks is so important and is emphasised time and again by healthcare institutions and government bodies.
However, there is another way in which the virus can enter your body – through indirect contact with the respiratory droplets of infected individuals.
For instance, a COVID patient might cough into their hand, then touch a surface, such as a table or a wall, before washing their hands. If you touch the same surface a little while later, you would be exposed to the virus, even if you were never in the same room at the same time with the infected individual.
Because many people carry the COVID-19 virus without ever showing any symptoms of infection, many surfaces in public areas may have been exposed to the virus. These asymptomatic carriers of the novel coronavirus could be sitting beside you on public transport or selling you groceries at the supermarket, and there would be no way for you to know if you’re being exposed to the disease.
This is why gloves are such an important part of your COVID-prevention efforts. A box of gloves is an easy and affordable safety measure that can keep you safe from coronavirus infection, as you go about your day-to-day business. With gloves and a face mask, you can enter public buildings and travel on public transport during the pandemic, without putting your health at a major risk.
Gloves keep your skin from coming into direct contact with any of the surfaces you touch. They form a layer of protection between your hands and the things they touch or hold so that even if those surfaces are rife with pathogens, you will be in no danger of being affected by a disease when you touch them.
Reasons for the Popularity of Non-Latex Gloves
You can buy high-quality safety gloves made from a variety of materials, including latex, vinyl, and nitrile. All of these materials have their benefits and drawbacks. However, one of the reasons why people largely prefer to use non-latex gloves for COVID-19 prevention is that rubber or latex allergies are quite common among the US population.
This means that, when buying a box of gloves for yourself or your loved ones, you not only have to ensure that it will protect you from germs and viruses, but also that it won’t cause a severe allergic reaction when used. This is why, although latex gloves are soft, comfortable, and Eco-friendly, most buyers prefer to go with the affordable, hypoallergenic option of vinyl gloves.
Vinyl gloves are cheap, durable, and flexible, which means you can perform your normal, day-to-day tasks with ease while wearing them. When it comes to choosing a pair of non-latex gloves for daily wear, it cannot be denied that nitrile gloves are stronger and more durable than vinyl ones.
This is why they are widely used during surgeries, industrial procedures, and other high-risk situations where chemicals and hazardous substances are involved. But nitrile as a material is also significantly more expensive than vinyl, which might serve as a deterrent for many buyers.
So if you want to buy a box of gloves to protect yourself and your family members from the novel corona virus, you should do some research on the different types of non-latex gloves available in the market. Once you’ve made a choice, you can purchase high-quality gloves, manufactured by a reputed seller of PPE products.