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Thanks to Coronavirus Warnings, Everyone Is Just Now Realizing How Much They Touch Their Own Face

Turns out, it's a LOT.
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Vivian Kane
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Published: Feb 28, 2020 06:03 pm

This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information
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As we all try to figure out just how worried we need to be about the Coronavirus  (Good news: It’s not spread beyond a few isolated cases in the U.S. yet; Bad news: Mike Pence is in charge of the response team, the White House is attacking the media, Donald Trump Jr. is telling conservatives that Democrats want the virus to spread, whistleblowers are being punished for reporting lack of preparation and care, etc. etc., take your pick), one thing has become very clear: We all touch our faces a hell of a lot more than most of us realized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned Americans to prepare for “community spread” in the U.S. and offered some tips for how to protect ourselves. Unsurprisingly, most have to do with heightened application of basic hygiene techniques: wash your hands (seriously) and don’t touch your face.

If you’ve never had someone tell you not to touch your face, it might not be something you’ve ever thought about. Once it’s on your mind, though, you can’t not think about it. Mentioning face-touching also has the same effect as seeing someone yawn. Did you notice an itch on your nose or maybe your cheek since the beginning of this paragraph? Sorry about that.

I’m a major fidgeter so I always felt like I was aware of how much I touch my face. But in the last day or so, I’ve reached levels of awareness (and fidget-face-touching) that I didn’t know were possible. But at least I’m not alone.

Here’s the general reaction to being told not to touch your face:

It’s really hard!

And once we’re told we can’t do it, it’s literally the only thing worth thinking about.

Honestly, the only thing that can make me recommit to a heightened state of awareness about something like this is realizing how many other people have no concern for public health and herd immunity AT ALL.

Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go figure out how to bathe my respiratory system in Purell.

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Image of Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.
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