Coronavirus: should you shave your beard during the current epidemic?

Is shaving your beard necessary to minimise the risks of contracting the COVID-19 virus? Well, according to French ER doctor Patrick Pelloux, it is. When he appeared on the news channel BFMTV on Sunday 22nd March, Patrick, the President of the Association of Emergency Physicians in France was asked the question by a rather eager viewer who really wanted to know if ‘the virus is able to linger in beards or moustaches when you cough or sneeze.' And the doctor’s answer was pretty straightforward: ‘Yes, of course.’

‘Beards and moustaches are actually very dirty’

However, the doctor did go on to explain that he doesn’t want to ‘start a campaign against beards and moustaches’. ‘But in any case, it has already been recommended (…) beards and moustaches are actually very dirty,’ he continued.

According to him, the virus could linger for up to ‘several hours’ in the entangled hairs in men's beards. So far, however, Patrick Pelloux is the first healthcare professional to clearly take a stand against keeping your beard during the outbreak of this new coronavirus in Europe.

The CDC has already advised men to shave their beards in 2017

Moreover, his premise does comply with the recommendations set out by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States (CDC).

In a document that was created in 2017 and which resurfaced when the outbreak first began in Europe, American health authorities published recommendations for the style of beards that men should have during periods of high contamination so as not to counteract the efficiency of using breathing masks. However, these recommendations are not ‘custom-designed' for the COVID-19 virus that is currently raging in the UK and in several other countries around the world.