There always have been and there always will be ‘experts’.  I don’t mean actual experts – people with qualifications and knowledge about what they talk about, I mean the sort of ‘experts’ who saw a post that Mandy* off face book shared that said, therefore it’s ‘defs. 200% true’ (1: ‘defs’ is not a word and 2: 200% isn’t a thing, so I can’t bring myself to even read whatever it is they are spouting), but I’ve digressed.  What I wanted to say is that Coronavirus seems to have brought the armchair experts out in their droves, possibly because more people are spending time in their armchairs than ever before due to lockdown…

(*no offence to any Mandy’s out there)

One of the topics discussed a fair bit right now is facemasks.  Medical people need them for protection.  Key workers do too.  Do they make that much difference? Some say no, but I wouldn’t want to take the risk if I worked in a hospital.   The WHO seem to be changing their stance on all things masks at the moment and frankly if they are in a muddle, the rest of us don’t stand a chance.  The next question on the path is, is there any benefit to ones that aren’t medical grade (ie home made)?  And this is where I’ve been trying to sieve through facts and opinions.  Based on the fact that in the US the public are being asked to make masks for medical personnel who have run out I think I’ve come to the conclusion that 1) Medical grade ones are preferable, but should probably be left for those who need to wear them for long periods at a time 2) As long as nobody thinks because they are wearing a mask they don’t need to follow social distancing rules there is no risk in wearing one 3) Coughs and sneezes can land a lot further than the 2 meter distancing rule (that was backed up in some scientific research I landed on rather than arm chair experts).  If my nose and mouth are covered I wont inhale anyone else’s 4) You can have the virus for 14 days before symptoms show.  That includes me (I’ve only been to a few shops in the last few weeks, but there is always that possibility), so if my nose and mouth are covered all the time I’m out and I stand 2 meters from everyone, there is even less chance I could pass it on.  So that was my thinking when I made masks for Mum and Dad, and my family and some friends to pass on to people who have low immune systems and are still having to go to hospital appointments through all this.

And I thought I’d make them colourful, because why not?

There are now so many patterns available when you Google ‘face mask patterns’ I can’t find the one I used.  So if you want to make one, just do a Google.  There’s even a couple that don’t require sewing!

Sister 1 and Little Pea are still waiting for their postman to deliver their masks.  Instead, she sent me some phots from her walk today that summed up the current world wonkiness and the calm that seems to be increasingly filling in the gaps:

Stay safe, lovely people. x