We thought we knew everything there was to know about the spreading of viruses and disease from high school science lessons, but the COVID-19 outbreak has made us realize just how ill-informed the general public is.

We’ve seen hilarious DIY facemasks, the panic-buying of toilet paper, and far too many selfish people who think self-isolation doesn’t apply to them. When it comes to personal hygiene, hand sanitizer sales are through the roof, and many of us are wearing masks and gloves to the supermarket – but one Michigan nurse demonstrated why this alone might not be the solution.

Molly Lixey, a former emergency room nurse, was shocked to see how little people understood about cross-contamination during a trip to her local grocery store. She took to Facebook to make a video explaining why wearing gloves is pretty useless if you don’t adhere to the recommendations of the health officials.

In the video, Molly tells a story, using it to teach her viewers about how viruses spread.

She says: “Let’s say I’m ready to go to the store, and I put my gloves on. And then I grab my cell phone.”

She explains that even if she then cleans off her shopping trolley with disinfectant wipes, when she touches her first shopping item – toilet paper – the germs from the product will linger on her gloves. Molly makes it easier for us to understand this by adding some blue paint to act as the invisible germs on the surface.

In Molly’s hypothetical story, her phone then rings. So she reaches in her pocket and sends a text to her husband. In this act, she is transferring the germs from the toilet paper over to her phone.

Molly continues to explain the potential situations that could arise during her supermarket shop. She touches other items in the store, itches her nose, and holds her phone to her ear to take a call. It isn’t long before the blue paint – or the germs – has spread to her nose and the side of her face.

She pauses in her explanation with a little rant that must be based off her personal experience with shoppers wearing gloves. She says:

“I don’t want these dirty gloves in my car, right, so what should I do with them? Let’s see, I take them off appropriately, and they belong in the trash. In the trashcan, people, instead of putting them in the parking lot next to the vehicle.”

Finally, we understand the moral of Molly’s story as she explains what happens when she gets into the car. Although she’s safely deposited her gloves outside, the germs from her gloves have been transferred over to her phone and her face. This means that when she goes to use her phone again, her hands come into contact with the germs.

“Look,” she says, “this is called cross-contamination. There’s no point in wearing gloves if you’re not going to wash your hands every time you touch something. There’s no point, friends.”

She urges viewers to do whatever makes them feel safe, but remember the science behind their actions. She says that the fear is manifesting people into being crazy and not acting smart.

Molly certainly raises some good points in her video. You can find more information about the control and prevention of COVID-19 on the CDC website.

Take a look at Molly’s full video explanation below.

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Source: Boredpanda, Facebook/ Molly Lixey, CDC, Pexels/ Branimir Balogović