HARLINGEN, Texas – Health experts are warning by touching your face, COVID-19 can be easily transmitted.

One local expert who specializes in ear, nose, and throat infectious diseases says when you’re out you should be extra cautious of what you’re touching.

“The virus can either be airborne and be passed through microdroplets or you can get it on your hands if you touch something and something as simple as rubbing your face or rubbing your eye, or scratching your forehead over time the virus can find it’s way into the eye, through the eye duct down into the nose and eventually down into your throat, it doesn’t take much,” said Dr. Frank Glatz.

Friday, the CDCD announced they are recommending all Americans cover their mouth, even if it’s with a scarf or cloth.

This is a practice Dr. Glatz says should be taken seriously here in the Rio Grande Valley.

“Once they’re out they should stop touching their face and we should all be wearing gloves and masks as well, but there’s a social stigma about that as a lot of people feel uncomfortable, but there’s nothing weird about protecting yourself and other people,” said Glatz.

If you are wearing gloves use them properly, don’t be touching items and then touch your face as that becomes cross-contamination.

“Spray your gloves, you know a lot of people don’t have a lot of pairs of gloves, but you know what you don’t need to have a lot,” said Glatz. “You can spray them off with alcohol in a spray bottle and they’re effectively sterile and it’s better to spray the gloves than to spray your hands because your hands have all these nooks and crannies where bacteria can hide and on these gloves there is no where to hide.” 

Remember, if you do have to go out be sure you’re sanitizing yourself and your daily items.

“When you go to hand somebody your credit card at Stripes, have a little bit of spray with you and it can be isopropyl alcohol or you can go buy everclear, just at the liquor store and you can spray your credit card when you hand it to them and spray it when you get it back to disinfect,” said Glatz.

Viruses can live on your daily items and surfaces up to several hours to several days, according to the CDC, depending on the surface.

For additional information on the COVID-19 visit WWW.CDC.GOV/CORONAVIRUS.