We have been in this pandemic for over seven months now, yet I feel as though (sadly) this is still a message that many need to hear. WEAR A MASK!!! People it is not that difficult to wear a mask and to wear it properly.
Now you may be saying to yourself, “this article isn’t for me. I know how to wear a mask,” but do you really?
There is one and only one way to properly wear a mask and that is fully covering your face below your eyes. This means that your nose, mouth, and chin should be fully covered and secure in your mask.
That being said I have noticed a few common incorrect ways people have been wearing their masks. These includes but are not limited to:
1. Wearing it below your nose
Ladies and gentlemen, wearing a mask with your nose out is NOT effective at all. It really defeats the purpose of protecting yourself. If you come into contact with someone who is also wearing their mask incorrectly, or isn’t wearing one at all, and they sneeze in your direction, all of those germ particles will be inhaled by you because your nose is exposed. Same goes for if you, yourself, sneeze. If that doesn’t make sense to you think of it in terms of sex. Having your nose outside of your mask is equivalent to using defective birth control substances, or using a condom with a hole in it. You are still at risk and the protection is pretty much useless, or at least not as effective at this point. Just pull it! You don’t want to be that person that gets sick just because you were too lazy to lift your mask above your nose.
2. The “chin strap”
This common way of wearing a mask is exactly as it sounds. You aren’t wearing a mask, your chin is! The mask is meant to cover your mouth and nose to prevent the spread of your germs and to stop you from being exposed to other people’s germs. Wearing it on your chin is just as effective as not wearing one at all.
3. Wearing it properly but pulling it down everytime you need to hear/say something
Now I understand how this one can be difficult as it can be hard to understand people through a mask, but please stop pulling them down. Simply speak louder and work on enunciating by speaking slowly and clearly. If the issue is you can’t hear the other person, ask them to speak up. You pulling down your mask to hear them is like turning the music down in the car to see the road better…it has no correlation and just puts you both at a higher risk.
4. Blatantly not wearing one
This one speaks for itself. I understand it gets hot, it is difficult to breathe, and masks can just be down right uncomfortable, but they are still extremely important so please wear one. I can not stress enough how important it is to wear a mask and to wear it properly. If you are having trouble finding a mask that is effective and breathable check out Axia Brandt’s article Fashion Alert: Wear A Mask!