Should you shave off your beard to keep safe from COVID-19?

Short answer, maybe. Lets explore.

Working from home

Ok, so now most of us have been working from home, and a lot of us are STILL working from home. It depends on what country you are in, and what strategy your administration have chose. I live in Sweden so we’ve been pretty famous for doing all kinds of odd decisions. That topic however is entirely a own post…

During this so called lockdown, a lot of us have been skipping out on the razor and just let the beard breath. We’ve actually seen hashtags on both Instagram and twitter saying #coronabeard, #letsgrowtogether. Even Jim Carrey have opted in on this. And to be honest, he did use to have a pretty amazing beard!

Is it safe?

Not a lot of us have a full beard. If you don’t you can take a breath. There are no current evidence to support that a clean shaven man is less likely to get the COVID-19 virus. This is said by Carrie L. Kovarik, who is a associate professor of dermatology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

The coronavirus spreads through small respiratory droplets from a cough or a sneeze. Much like the spread of a ordinary cold. However this is much more infectious.

If we look on how a possible scenario would look. A person that would sneeze or cough on you, and the germs are hitting your beard. Then it’s more likely that the germ actually hit your face rather than zone in on just your beard.

Care for your beard!

However as all bearded men should; Care for your beard! Wash it! Oil it! Comb it! This will not likely stop you from getting the COVID-19 virus. But if you practice good hygiene then you are less likely to get infected than if you don’t.

Since a lot of us are now practicing social distancing, it’s a good time to try out various beard care techniques. Some take more time than others. However as a starter kit i would recommend:

• A fine graded comb
• A coarse graded comb
• Some kind of good quality beard oil
• Hairdryer or a beard straightener
• Hair scissors or a good quality hair or body trimmer

CDC Chart

Back in February a picture from the CDC did get shared frequently in social media.

However as you can see on the timestamp this recommendation chart is not from 2020, but from 2017. And it is NOT related to COVID-19 in any way. These masks are referencing a respirator called N95, and this mask needs a full seal to work properly. This of course with a beard, is almost impossible.

The CDC in the USA have clear instructions not to have any facial hair due to the risks of getting the virus if the mask is not sealed.

So you want to keep your beard…

So you’re like me. You want to keep that beard you’ve been working so hard on. To me the beard have become a part of me, and I would probably look ridiculous if i shaved it all down. So what can you do to keep it somewhat safe?

We touched upon the topic already, But here’s a quick list to help you out

• Practice good personal hygiene
• Do NOT touch your face before washing your hands
• Practice social distancing as much as you can
• Wash the beard daily. Remember to use beard oil since the skin underneath cannot create the same oils as our normal hair can

None of this leaves any guarantees. But if you follow these steps, at least you’ve done all you could.