Covid-19 ; hand-washing question

geoff1000

Question for anyone who knows :

If someone has no access to running water and a sink, is it better to wash one's hands repeatedly in the same bucket of soapy water, then rinse and dry them ?

If soap kills the virus, that would probably be a good idea ; but if it merely washes the virus off, it might be a bad idea.

Thanks

hillbilly

Most soap is just a surfactant, but would still likely reduce total amount of contagious material for (at least) the first few washings. A few ounces of bleach mixed in would likely help in those circumstances-

The CDC.gov website recommend any plain or antibacterial soap as effective in destroying the RNA molecular structure of the virus. Sars-Covid has a fat envelope casing on its outer layer that is easily broken down by soap and water. If you have no access to soap and water use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
Since hand sanitizers are in short supply maybe 100 per cent overproof run might do the same job of breaking that fat envelope.

The effective use of bleach is still being debated among scientists. There's some concern about the neuro respiratory effects on the lungs and the brain long-term. Others say it's very effective in breaking down the fat envelope on certain surfaces
Research is still ongoing on how effective.

Hence using the same soapy water to wash one's hands each time if one does not have access to it when on the go for example I would think should not be recharging the virus. Since if one follows the chemical structure of it you break down that fat layer and expose it's nucleus you really are already killing it. That's just my layman's guess.
But using the same soapy water may just be reintroducing the virus each time. Despite it's fat envelope being degraded by the soap.

Rather than using the same soapy water I would rather keep a bottle of 100 per overproof rum and use it as I need to. Don't know what the virologists would say to that.