Canadians have been washing their hands more often and for longer since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, but women have washed their hands much more often than men and a third of Canadians continue to wash their hands only “sometimes” before a meal.
That’s according to a national survey released by Dial Canada, a maker of hand soap and other personal hygiene products, which asked how COVID-19 has influenced their handwashing practices.
The results of the recent survey conducted in French and English by bms – marketing research + strategy, include the following findings:
Frequency of handwashing before and after COVID-19:
• According to the survey, the number of people who reported washing their hands more than 10 times a day has more than doubled (2½ times) since the pandemic.
13.8% of those polled reported washing their hands at least 10 times a day before the pandemic while 36.9% of those polled said they had washed their hands more than 10 times a day since the pandemic.
• What was the most common answer? Canadians in the single survey were asked to report their hand washing habits both before and since the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, the most common hand washing routine was 3-4 times a day. Since the pandemic, the most common response has climbed between 11 and 14 hand washes per day.
The most popular response (28.8%) of those surveyed to the question of how often to wash their hands before COVID-19 was 3 or 4 times a day.
The most popular response (19.5%) of those polled to the question of how often to wash their hands since COVID-19 was between 10 and 15 times a day.
• A third of people “sometimes” wash their hands before eating. 64.8% of people surveyed said they always wash their hands before eating.
32.9% reported sometimes washing their hands before eating. 2.3% admitted to never washing their hands before eating.
Duration of hand washing before and since COVID-19:
• 90% of people now wash their hands for the recommended 20 seconds (the Public Health Agency of Canada recommends that Canadians “wash their hands for at least 20 seconds”) – this number is almost double the number comparable before the pandemic.
Less than half (48.6%) of those polled said they wash their hands for at least 20 seconds before the pandemic.
Since the pandemic, 89.8% of people surveyed reported washing their hands for the recommended 20 seconds or more. This represents an increase of 85%.
Differences between men and women:
• 50% more women than men wash their hands more than 10 times a day.
42.8% of women surveyed said they have washed their hands more than 10 times a day since the pandemic.
27.4% of men surveyed reported washing their hands more than 10 times a day since the pandemic.
“This survey makes it clear that Canadians have taken handwashing much more seriously since the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Maya Atallah, Senior Brand Manager, Body Care, Henkel Canada Corporation. Due to more frequent hand washing by consumers, hand soaps are increasingly in demand. To help meet this need, Dial Canada has partnered with Food Banks Canada by donating soapy products and providing monetary support to help raise awareness and stimulate donations. “
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