Now more than ever it is extremely important to wash our hands regularly and well. Many people are washing their hands like never before — after all this is the best defence against the SARS-COV2 virus that causes COVID-19.
Google have previously added a Google Assistant command to help people wash their hands and now they have added a hand washing timer to the clock app on WearOS with update v5.4.0. The new addition adds a new “Hand-Wash Timer” shortcut to the app drawer to allow it to be accessed easily.
Tapping the shortcut gives a three second countdown into a 40 second timer — the recommended time to wash your hands (some recommendations also say 20 seconds). The timer can be stopped at any time with the CDC recommending 20 seconds and the WHO recommending 40 seconds — longer is of course better you would think.
The new feature also gives you a notification for when you need to wash your hands — default is three hours which can be turned off or adjusts as required.
With the curve most definitely flattening in Australia now is not the time to let up on hand care. Many peoples lives depends on us washing our hands properly. It’s great that Google have provided us with this new feature but it really should not be needed — I hope most of you would be able to count to 40 Mississippis.
