(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The prolonged pandemic has resulted in fewer people washing their hands after going to the restroom, a survey showed Wednesday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported that only 66.3 percent of South Korean adults said they washed their hands after using the toilet this year, down by 9.1 percentage points from last year.
In 2020, the hand-washing rate reached a new high since 2013 due to the emphasis put on personal hygiene following the outbreak of COVID-19.
Twelve months later, however, the handwashing rate started to drop.
It is still higher than the pre-pandemic era of 2019, when the rate stood at 63.6 percent.
The survey was conducted with among 2,353 adults and 1,056 elementary school students last year between Oct. 19-Nov. 12.
Among the elementary school students, 69.6 percent said they washed their hands after using the toilet, slightly higher than adults.
Only 30.6 percent of adults used soap to wash their hands, while 35.7 percent washed their hands without using soap.
Only 29.2 percent of elementary schoolers used soap to wash their hands, which was lower than the adults.
Only 1.44 percent of adults and 1.23 percent of elementary schoolers followed the recommendation by health authorities to use soap for more than 30 seconds to wash their hands.
Adults spent an average of 9.15 seconds washing their hands, compared to 8.74 seconds for elementary school students.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
