Experts warn: beards and corona are not a good mix

France - French doctor Patrick Pelloux (56) believes that it could be beneficial for men to shave off their full beards to protect their fellow men from infection with the highly contagious coronavirus.

This graphic clearly shows which beard styles are compatible with respirators and which are not.
This graphic clearly shows which beard styles are compatible with respirators and which are not.   © Screenshot/Twitter/NIOSH

So far, Patrick Pelloux (56) is probably the only medical professional to have commented on the link between a full beard and the coronavirus, reports RTL.fr.

His theory: beards are dirt traps. In addition to food debris, viruses and bacteria can also get caught in the tangled hair, for example after sneezing or coughing, and happily survive there for several hours. Including the highly contagious coronavirus.

But this is not the only reason why it is advisable to get rid of the cultivated facial ornaments during the corona crisis.

Another important reason for this step is the face masks that currently have to be worn in public in more and more cities in order to avoid infecting and protecting other people.

A beard means that they do not fit properly on the nose and mouth, as a picture from theNation Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH) on Twitter shows. Only a few styles are actually compatible with respirators.

The consequence is clear, the respirator is useless, the viruses have free rein.

Patrick Pelloux, who is clean-shaven himself, does not want to start a campaign against the wearing of beards. Nevertheless, shaving is recommended.

In times like these, you can actually think about giving up the symbol of pure masculinity for a few weeks to protect your fellow human beings from a deadly virus.

Coronaviruses can probably also settle in beards and survive there for several hours. (symbolic image)
ContentImage.Description   © 123RF/Kateryna Kon
Beards are dirt and bacteria traps. (symbolic image)
ContentImage.Description   © 123rf/goodluz

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