Covid 19 Update; Why soap, sanitizer and warm water work against Covid-19 and other viruses

Tired of washing your hands for 20 seconds each time? Fingers starting to prune or feel like sandpaper?

Please don't stop.

Take heart that while you're scrubbing, you're also killing off a host of other nasty bacteria and potentially lethal viruses that have plagued humans for centuries -- including influenza and a number of different coronaviruses.

How did such a simple thing as soap and warm water -- and alcohol-based sanitizers -- obtain such power over these parasites?

The answer lies in their "skin" and your scrubbing technique.

Under the microscope, coronaviruses appear to be covered with pointy spires, giving them the appearance of having a crown or "corona" -- hence the name. Beneath the crown is the outer layer of the virus, which is made up of lipids, or what you and I would call fat.

Now imagine that coronavirus is your butter dish, covered with buttery fat. 

"You try to wash your butter dish with water alone, but that butter is not coming off the dish," Williams explained. "You need some soap to dissolve grease. So soap or alcohol are very, very effective against dissolving that greasy liquid coating of the virus."

What does getting rid of that outer layer do to the germ?

"It physically inactivates the virus, so it can't bind to and enter human cells anymore," Williams said.