Prevent the spread of diseases in public spaces.

 Proper hand hygiene plays a major role in preventing the spread of diseases in public spaces. One study by Akter et al. (2022) investigated implementation barriers and facilitators to a COVID-19 intervention in Bangladesh, focusing on the benefits of engaging the community for program delivery. The authors used a mixed-methods approach and found that engaging influential community members, free-of-cost materials, and telemedicine services were key facilitators in the successful implementation of the program, while irregular participation in trainings, lack of communication and coordination among stakeholders, and inadequate resources were identified as significant barriers. Another study by George et al. (2022) evaluated COVID-19 preventive hygiene behaviors by observing mask wearing, handwashing, and physical distancing behaviors in public indoor spaces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study used a cross-sectional design and found that most participants were observed to be adhering to preventive hygiene practices. Admednur et al. (2022) addressed an often-overlooked issue, assessing the quality of water meant for handwashing among food establishment customers. The authors found that microbial load was varied based on water quality, type of water container used, method of taking water from the container, handwashing technique, and hand drying. Findings from this study imply that food establishment owners should treat water for handwashing; however, research around water quality for handwashing remains unclear. Overall, compared to the 2021 hand hygiene researchsummary, there were fewer studies focused on hand hygiene in public spaces. It remains critical to examine hand hygiene practices in public settings and ensure continued monitoring and evaluation of hygiene programs to accomplish sustained behavior change.