Could this be a Superior Substitute for Hand Sanitizer?

[KustomsbyKent]

I had a severe sinus infection from Nov 2019 through Jan 2020, and I had to go to a specialist to get it cleared up with a 3rd round of antibiotics.
According that doctor, it's actually the rinsing action that gets rid of the virus down the sink. The soap doesn't actually kill the virus (any kind), it just lifts it off the skin so it can be rinsed away.
It's for that reason that hand sanitizer's are a bit of a joke... you're just smearing the bad stuff around...yes, it likely kills a decent amount of bacteria, but certainly not everything, and maybe not the really bad stuff.
So... wash your hands with soap and water, and avoid touching anywhere on your face if you can't wash right away, and minimizing touching surfaces that are exposed to multiple people.

[rgsparber]

I had a severe sinus infection from Nov 2019 through Jan 2020, and I had to go to a specialist to get it cleared up with a 3rd round of antibiotics.
According that doctor, it's actually the rinsing action that gets rid of the virus down the sink. The soap doesn't actually kill the virus (any kind), it just lifts it off the skin so it can be rinsed away.
It's for that reason that hand sanitizer's are a bit of a joke... you're just smearing the bad stuff around...yes, it likely kills a decent amount of bacteria, but certainly not everything, and maybe not the really bad stuff.
So... wash your hands with soap and water, and avoid touching anywhere on your face if you can't wash right away, and minimizing touching surfaces that are exposed to multiple people.

Small world. I too had a severe sinus infection around that time. I've had such infections on and off for 60 years. My last doctor explained that due to all of that scar tissue in my sinuses, I have poor circulation. This means that the antibiotic is slow to arrive on site. He put me on Cipro for 3 weeks and it did the trick. It also caused temporary weakness in various tendons. Four months later, I'm almost back to normal with my tendons.

I too have been told that soap and water simply flush germs away and don't kill many of them.

It is my understanding that the coronavirus is enclosed in a lipid and will fall apart on contact with water and soap. I found many references in the popular press but not at cdc.gov so I have no proof it is true.

The CDC does say that washing with soap and water for 20 seconds is best but using a hand sanitizer is recommended for health workers (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...giene-faq.html) because it won't tear up the hands as much and is effective. I expect that these people also wear gloves when touching a patient with COVID-19.

If soap and water are just physically moving the virus, then my proposed approach is not good. But if the soap and water kills the virus, there is no harm in leaving it on my skin until I can get to rinse water.

Rick