If you had told me this time last year that we would all be walking around in masks this year I would have laughed. Yet, here we are.

Wear the mask

I’m still astounded on a daily basis that there are still so many people resisting this. I’m astounded that there are people questioning whether wearing a mask actually helps reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

I can’t imagine for one second that these people would be happy with a surgical team performing an operation on them without a mask and gloves! Why have these measures been in place in hospitals for years and years? To keep people safe from infection! Yet you don’t see people questioning that do you? You don’t see people questioning the need for the partner of someone having a caesarean to be wearing a mask and gown do you?

Just wear the mask!

Change the mask

Like with lots of things these days, you can buy disposable and reusable face masks. I think I wore a disposable mask once right at the start, but then I bought a selection of fabric masks for the whole family so they could be rotated through the wash.

Meanwhile… ONE-IN-THREE Brits admit wearing the same disposable face mask multiple times. A nationwide study of 2,000 Brits found that 32% confessed to wearing the same throwaway cheap mask time and time again – putting them, and their loved ones, at risk of contracting Covid-19.

Taken across the UK’s 55m adults in the UK, this works out at just under 18m Brits who admit to repeatedly reusing a disposable mask. Disposable masks are designed to be binned each time they are worn, but despite this, millions of Brits are risking their health by not following guidelines.

The study by Breathe Happy found that those living in the East of England were most likely to wear a disposable mask – which can be bought as cheaply as just £3 for 10 – on repeated occasions.

It found that a staggering 76% of those from the East of England – Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs, Bedfordshire, Essex, Herts – admitted using the same disposable mask for more than 1 week when they ventured out.

Those living in the North West of England were the least likely, with just 7% confessing to wearing disposable masks multiple times.

The study also found that women were more likely to re-use disposable masks, with 38%, compared to men, with 27% of men.

The team at breathe happy, which make reusable face masks, said that disposable masks had ‘leakage’ of 35 per cent, and were only designed to protect others, not the wearer themselves – and have no particle filtration efficiency.

Cloth masks were also flagged as having issues, including that some viruses can survive on the surface of them, and that many don’t fit ‘snugly around the mouth and nose’.

The Breathe Happy Mask

The Breathe Happy silicone masks, which sell for £24.99, use a TYPE11R filter and filter virtually all of the air wearers breathe, whilst paper masks leave around 20 per cent of all air inhaled, and 30 per cent of air exhaled, unfiltered.

These masks are made from superior, food-grade silicone, are lightweight and comfortable, and specially sculpted to mould to the face’s contours, unlike disposable masks which are not even designed to protect the wearer, they are designed to protect others from you.

They feature fully adjustable straps that ensure the face mask stays in place and the mask moulds to the contours of your face – whatever activity is being undertaken. 

Spectacle wearers will also appreciate the fact that breathe happy masks are non-fogging, unlike disposable masks.

The fit of these masks is undeniable and they are very comfy, the downside is they are more interfering than an ear loop mask, as the straps go around the back of your head. They are also pricey. If there is just a couple of you, these might not be too bad, but for a family like us, with six people, it’s a lot of money to spend on masks, when there are cheaper fabric ones with several layers of fabric for added protection.

Whatever mask you wear, remember to change it!