Which facial hair must go?

VERANDA TALK: Dr Airdre Grant discusses seeing a little bit of light among the darkness, including which facial hair is face-mask safe.

Portrait anxious young man biting his nails fingers freaking out, frightened, generic, scared

In these grim and panicky times, we all need a bit a cheering up, some optimism and joy to counter all the serious health messages we are being given about not touching our faces, not shaking hands, not kissing and generally avoiding each other as much as possible.

But the human spirit is great.

Simply get on your computer and watch a pregnant Katy Perry singing Firework at the Women's T20 Worlds Cup 2020.

It's sensational.

It is so inspiring to see all the women young and old dancing and singing and cheering each other on.

I particularly liked the dancing cricket bats.

They were my favourite.

Along with Katy, the song, the choreography, the young women dancing proudly with lightening shaped signs saying Girl Power and The Future is Equal.

I loved it.

After a week of pictures of empty supermarket shelves, patients in hospitals, photos of the hospital buildings, people in biohazard suits or worried citizens with plastic bottles on their heads, it was a welcome relief.

These are fluid and unpredictable times.

I have been washing my hands, honest.

But there is a limit to how much dismal and scary data I can absorb before I turn away.

There are a few tiny pearls in the mud here: the pollution levels in China have dropped, the wild animal markets have been closed, the volume of air travel has dropped, people are spending less, not counting loo paper and supplies.

And yes, I know it has deep implications for the economy and people's jobs and livelihoods are affected, but it is as if the world has been put on pause for a moment. Just a moment.

I do have important news for millennial men and their manscaped beards. Apparently facial hair can affect the effectiveness of face masks.

Oh no!

Does this mean you have to shave?

I say take no action because intelligence we get changes frequently.

Regarding face masks it goes from 'yes use them' to 'they are useless'.

There is a guide available from the Centre for Disease Control in the US and they have issued a graphic which tells you which facial hair styles are okay and which are not.

It names the various styles: for example the Zappa, the walrus, the villain, the horseshoe.

It is essential reading, and once again, should cheer you right up.

Originally published as