Hand Hygiene

Clean hands help stop germs from spreading. Handwashing, using hand sanitizer, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home when sick, and keeping shared spaces clean are easy ways to help keep yourself and others healthy. Germs can get into your body if you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with dirty hands. 

Clean your hands with a hand sanitizer or soap and water

  • Hand sanitizers arevery usefulwhen you do not have soap and water. 
  • Use soap and water when hands are visibly dirty or before preparing food.

Use hand lotion to keep hands healthy

  • Cleaning your hands a lot can make your skin dry.
  • Dry skin can crack, and cracks let germs in.
  • Using lotion helps keep your hands soft, healthy and protected. 

Common times to clean your hands

  • After sneezing, coughing, or blowing your nose. 
  • After using the washroom or changing diapers. 
  • Before and after preparing, handling, serving and eating food. 
  • Before and after touching eyes, nose or mouth.  
  • Before and after caring for someone who is sick. 
  • Before and after treating a cut or wound. 
  • After touching frequently used surfaces in public places (e.g. transit, elevators, door handles). 

Clean hands stop the spread of germs.  

How to Wash your hands

  1. Wet hands with warm water and use soap.
  2. Rub hands together for 15 seconds, including the back of hands, thumbs, between fingers and under nails.
  3. Rinse hands under running water.
  4. Dry hands well.

Hand washing

Other languages

Download

Electronic version available by request to the public

Call 416-338-7600 or email publichealth@toronto.ca.

  • Bengali / বাংলা
  • Farsi / فارسی
  • Greek / Ελληνικά
  • Italiano / Italian
  • Korean / 한국어
  • Portuguese / Português
  • Punjabi / ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
  • Russian / Русский
  • Somali / Afsoomaali
  • Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese
  • Tamil / தமிழ்
  • Tibetan / བོད་སྐད་
  • Urdu / اردو

 

Hand sanitizers are very useful when you do not have soap and water. 

How to use hand sanitizer

  • Choose a hand sanitizer with 70-90% alcohol.
  • Make sure hands are not visibly dirty.
  • Use one to two pumps of the hand sanitizer on your palm, then rub it over your fingertips, between fingers, under fingernails, back of hands and thumbs.
  • Rub hands together for at least 15 seconds until dry.
  • Young children should be supervised to make sure the hand sanitizer is used properly.

Hand sanitizing

Other languages

Download

Electronic version available by request to the public

Call 416-338-7600 or email publichealth@toronto.ca.

  • Bengali / বাংলা
  • Farsi / فارسی
  • Filipino / Tagalog
  • Greek / Ελληνικά
  • Italiano / Italian
  • Korean / 한국어
  • Portuguese / Português
  • Punjabi / ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
  • Russian / Русский
  • Somali / Afsoomaali
  • Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese
  • Tamil / தமிழ்
  • Tibetan / བོད་སྐད་
  • Urdu / اردو

 

Use layers of protection to help protect yourself, loved ones and those most vulnerable in our community. 

  • Keep Your Hands Clean

    • Hands can carry and spread germs. 
    • Coughing and sneezing into your hands can spread germs. 
    • Germs can get into your body if you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth with dirty hands. 
    • Clean your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (minimum 70-90%). 
    • Clean hands help stop the spread of germs. 

  • Cover Your Cough or Sneeze and Keep Your Distance from Others

    • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough, sneeze, or blow your nose. 
    • If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands. 
    • Clean your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (minimum 70-90%). 
    • Throw used tissues in the garbage. 
    • Keep your distance (more than 2 metres / 6 feet) from people if you have to cough/sneeze. 

  • Stay Home When You are Sick

    • If you are feeling sick, stay home to help stop the spread of germs. 
    • Return to work or school when you feel better and no longer have a fever. 

  • Consider Wearing a Mask

    • If you are sick or around someone who is sick. 
    • Where it is required like hospitals, long-term care homes, workplaces or businesses with their own mask rules. 
    • In busy indoor places with poor airflow. 

  • Choose well-ventilated spaces

    • Germs spread more easily when people are indoors in crowded spaces. 
    • Improve airflow indoors by using fans and opening windows and spend time in well-ventilated spaces when possible. 

  • Clean and Disinfect High Touch Surfaces

    • Clean things you touch a lot, like door handles, phones, remote controls, and light switches to help stop the spread of germs. 

 
Date modified: September 29, 2026