Should you worry about your beard and wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic?.
Some experts say men should shave their beards to get the best mask fit.
The CDC says styles like handlebar mustaches and soul patches are generally safe.
But extended goatees or muttonchops cross the edge of the mask and need to go.
One B.C. doctor says her research suggests that beards can lead to droplet leakage.
Leaky areas of masks are most prominent around the nose, chin and the cheeks, and pleated masks tend to leak more.
Having more leaks decreases the filtration...so the air we breathe will go through the leak and not the filter of the mask, Dr. Jane Wang, a clinical instructor at UBC who has studied face masks extensively.
One epidemiologist says masks can be ill-fitting regardless of whether the wearer has a beard or not.
He says it’s important to continue other safety precautions like keeping physical distance.
It's when you start thinking that masks protect you completely that beards become more risky, Colin Furness, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.
Others say whether beards pose an issue depends how long the stubble gets, and if their job requires a tighter-fitting respirator.
One group is offering face masks that wrap around beards and turbans to those who wear beards for religious reasons.
That's why these masks are important...They allow people to practise their religion while being safe, Sukhmeet Sachal, medical student at UBC, who is part of a group distributing masks