It's been half a year since Covid-19 disrupted lives and healthcare systems across the world. While Singapore is now in Phase 2, the battle against the pandemic is far from over, and washing your hands with soap and water remains essential as one of the measures in keeping Covid-19 at bay.

As you read this, Auckland, the capital city of New Zealand, Victoria in Australia and Danang, a coastal city in central Vietnam, are grappling with second waves of the virus as flight travel restarts, businesses reopen and residents resume their pre-pandemic activities.

It goes without saying that complacency is dangerous. Although official numbers at the time of print show that new daily cases in the community has remained stable at an average of two cases per day in the past two weeks, lowering our guard now will jeopardise Singapore's progress in stemming the spread of the outbreak.

The simple power of soap

Until a vaccine is found, government recommended measures such as social distancing, wearing a mask and good hand hygiene should and will continue to remain our new normal.

One should also avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Taking the time to scrub your hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water is a good deterrent.

"Sars-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic, belongs to the family of enveloped viruses. Enveloped viruses have a jacket made up of lipids and proteins that allows them to exist and helps them to enter human cells when your hands touch your face," says Mr Samir Singh, executive vice-president, Global Skin Cleansing at Unilever.

"Unfortunately, human skin is an ideal surface for germs, including enveloped viruses, to stick to. The proteins and fatty acids on the skin's surface bind to the germs like glue. Water alone cannot effectively break this interaction. Soapy water, however, is very different.

"Washing your hands using soap and water has a dual effect. Soap cleverly targets and interferes with the enveloped virus' outer membrane so it cannot bind to the skin and it also washes the virus away from your body and down the sink", adds Mr Singh.

Even before the onslaught of the pandemic this year, the benefits of proper hand-washing was extolled in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Life is Better with Clean Hands campaign, launched late last year. The campaign emphasised the prevention of diarrhoea and respiratory infections by washing one's hands with soap and water.

For many of us, we have this affordable yet powerful product at our disposal, 24/7.

Unilever's hopemakers

Keeping up with the production of soap has never been more crucial during this time. Medical professionals are undoubtedly at the forefront of this disease, but joining them in the background are manufacturers such as Lifebuoy that are equipping households and workplaces with the humble hand soap

Lifebuoy is a brand owned by Unilever, which is one of the world's largest manufacturers of soap and personal care products. As the world's number one-selling antibacterial soap, Lifebuoy has been on a mission to inspire good hand washing habits since the late 19th century, reaching over one billion people already with improved hand washing behaviours.

The brand is now sold in over 50 countries and is dedicated to providing access to affordable and effective hand hygiene products.

In fact, while a quarter of the world's population was in lockdown earlier this year, Lifebuoy's team of soap manufacturers across countries - together with the efforts of similar brands in the industry - have been hard at work keeping up with production, ensuring this simple, germ-removal product is readily available to the public.

Their hard work and dedication is reflected in the sheer amount of hand wash offerings produced during the pandemic.

"Thanks to their efforts, Lifebuoy has donated over 20 million products, such as soap, hand sanitisers and antibacterial wipes, to organisations and initiatives across the world. In Singapore, this includes frontliners in the healthcare services, employees' union, taxi drivers and the elderly via Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities," says Mr Kartik Chandrasekhar, Lifebuoy global brand vice-president.

To communicate the importance of good hand hygiene in our community, campaigns have also been conceptualised by Lifebuoy to reinforce the importance of proper hand-washing.

During Singapore's circuit breaker period, Lifebuoy initiated a hand washing challenge on social media platform Tik Tok. #DoTheLifebuoySG featured participation from local influencers such as actor and singer Benjamin Kheng, comedian Preeti Nair (better known as Preetipls) and singer/restaurateur Taufik Batisah, drawing nearly two million viewers and participants in the process.

It is a great example of how we can all embrace good hand hygiene as a permanent habit in our daily lives. Staying vigilant and avoiding complacency will also go a long way in helping companies like Lifebuoy and medical frontliners contain the outbreak, and perhaps help reduce the effects of a second wave in Singapore.

For more information and tips on good hand hygiene, visit Lifebuoy's Facebook page.