Bad news for Elvis impersonators, Civil War reenactors and our bearded brethren across the world...but good news for Gillette.
The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention recommends shaving your beard to protect yourself from a potential coronavirus outbreak. Beards and mutton chop side burns can interfere with the seal of a facepiece respirator mask, according to a new CDC infographic.
The circle beard, the fu-manchu and the chinstrap are other facial hair styles recommended for shaving by the CDC.
The bottom line is facial hair should not make any contact with the respirator seal's surface, according to the infographic.
The CDC also urged the American public to start preparing for potential future outbreaks during a press conference on Tuesday.
“As we’ve seen from recent countries with community spread, when it has hit those countries, it has moved quite rapidly," Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at the conference. "We want to make sure the American public is prepared."
Messonnier also noted the increased risk of a domestic outbreak due to travel between countries like Italy, South Korea and Iran, all of which have seen recent coronavirus outbreaks.
“As more and more countries experience community spread, successful containment at our borders becomes harder and harder," Messonnier said.
There are currently 80,000 cases of coronavirus globally, with the majority being in mainland China. Domestically, there has been 53 confirmed cases of U.S. citizens with the virus; 14 cases from people who recently traveled to China, and another 39 Americans who have been affected abroad.
