Coronavirus: Michigan nurse demonstrates how fast germs can spread

This browser does not support the video element.

SAGINAW, Mich. — A Michigan nurse called it “a quick little Molly rant.” But Molly Lixey of Saginaw demonstrated in a video how quickly germs can spread, a valuable piece of information during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lixey, a former emergency room nurse who now works in a doctor's office, went to the grocery store recently and saw many people wearing gloves, CNN reported. But what disturbed her was cross-contamination.

Lixey’s face and hands are smudged with paint as she continues her video. She talks about getting a text message from her husband and a telephone call from her mother, and then criticizes people who do not properly dispose of their gloves after using them in the store.

So, Lixey took some paint and created a nearly three-and-a-half-minute video on Facebook to show how quickly germs can be passed along. She simulates going to the grocery store and puts gloves on. She puts her fingers in a plate of paint to show the germs on her hands as she takes products off shelves, talks on her cellphone and touches her face.

"I was doing some painting around the house and it hit me that paint would be a perfect medium to use to explain this (cross contamination)," Lixey told CNN. "It terrifies me to think people believe they're safe only because they are wearing gloves and not have them be aware that they could still be harming themselves or others."