At this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Facilities are starting to reopen to the public, and overall prioritizing doing so safely.  What we’ve seen, however, is that facilities of all kinds are ignoring the most important concept in public safety infrastructure: pull power.

Simply placing small sanitizer dispenser stands near the entrances and hoping people notice them (the first step towards actually using them) is not the way to go about it.  We’ve written about this before, and the WHO agrees with us.

What’s missing is the ability to be immediately seen and understood as being hand sanitizing stations from a distance and over the heads of crowds. 

You might remember that back in 2003, there was an outbreak of a new, deadly type of Coronavirus.  We called it SARS, and it threatened to become a major new disease.  Some cities (like Toronto, where we live) were hit harder than others, and it eventually died off but left a lasting impression that our infection control efforts needed work.

What did we see happen in regards to infection prevention at facility entrances over time?

As we write this, the COVID-19 response in Canada is in its fifth month, and uncertainty is still foremost among many people, who above all want an answer to the question of when all this disruption will be over.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Since we last posted, lots of things have happened, not the least of which is that the world’s infection prevention and control communications have been getting seriously tested in an all-encompassing, massive way.  Global pandemics will do that.

More importantly, hand sanitizing infrastructure has been getting a great deal of scrutiny.