COVER UP

Face Time (Mask) Don’t leave home without a safe and stylish face covering for you and the kids.

By Megan Muessen

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1. CAMO-FACE Kids can choose from patterns like camo, mermaid and Minnie Mouse. $10-18, bellethreads.com 2. ONE FOR ALL Stitched with 100 percent organic cotton canvas, these white, machine-washable masks come in adult and kid sizes. $30 for four, avocadogreenmattress.com 3. AU NATURALE These hypoallergenic, non-toxic masks can be worn and washed up to 30 times by all ages. $7.40-9.40, boomernaturals.com 4. PRETTY IN PINK Made from cotton and polyester, adults can choose from pink, grey and teal. For every mask purchased, one will be donated to Feeding America. $9.99, shutterfly.com 5. HEAR ME ROAR Find cute prints in masks designed to fit kid, teen and adult faces. $15.95-19.95 for three, vitalfacemask.com 6. SWEET CHEEKS This organic, three-layer cotton mask comes in eight styles designed for ages 4-7. $8, etsy.com/shop/ilandistyle

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Cover Up Expert advice on when to wear a mask and whether you and the kids are wearing them correctly.

By Ronnie Koenig

When it comes to wearing a mask, there are so many rules to follow—and many of them keep changing, making it hard to know if you’re following the correct protocol to keep your family safe. Parents have plenty of questions, so we asked Timothy Yeh, MD, who specializes in pediatric care at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, to give us the lowdown on when it’s appropriate to wear a mask.

WHAT KIND OF MASK SHOULD I BE WEARING?

Yeh says the general public should be wearing cotton masks they’ve purchased or made. A bandana works, too. “The primary intent of wearing the mask is to decrease the risk of spreading disease,” he says. “Since so many people tested positive without symptoms, if you go out you should consider that anybody could be a carrier of the virus. By wearing a mask, it effectively reduces the amount of virus you could transmit to others, especially if you aren’t able to social distance, like in a supermarket.” Yeh says to save the N95 high filtration masks or surgical masks for healthcare providers.

WHAT AGES SHOULD WEAR A MASK?

The CDC recommends children ages 2 and older wear masks when out in public. Of course, your toddler may not cooperate with your attempts to get them into PPE (personal protective equipment) but Yeh says there are ways to turn the situation around and make it less scary for kids.

“There are masks with character faces on them,” he says. “Also, kids like to emulate adults. If they see adults wearing masks in a nonthreatening way, they may be more likely to keep them on.”

DO I NEED A MASK WHILE TAKING A WALK?

Whether or not to wear a mask when taking a walk really depends on whether you can maintain social distancing, Yeh says. If you can stay six feet or more away from other people, there’s no reason you can’t keep your mask off outside.

“Theoretically, the droplets don’t go much further than six feet,” says Yeh. “If you’re able to social distance outdoors or there’s no one around, you’re not going to pick up coronavirus from another person.”

WHAT ABOUT WHEN GOING OUT FOR A RUN?

When you’re exercising outdoors, wearing a mask can make it hard to breathe. Yeh says to use common sense when it comes to wearing a mask during vigorous exercise.

“If you’re not around other individuals, you don’t need to wear it,” he says, specifying that it’s still important to move six feet or more out of the way if you see someone coming toward you. Yeh suggests that even if you’re not planning to wear your mask, it’s still a good idea to keep it with you in case you bump into someone you want to talk to.

DO I NEED TO WEAR A MASK WHILE DRIVING?

Most of us have seen drivers wearing face coverings and wondered if that’s necessary. If you finish up a grocery store run, is there a reason to keep it on for the car ride home?

“I can’t think of a reason for continuing to wear it unless you’re concerned about your mask being contaminated,” says Yeh, explaining that a person might want to wait until they get home and are able to wash their hands and mask before removing it. But in general, there’s no upside to driving while wearing a mask.

HOW DO I CLEAN MY MASK?

While Yeh says there are no hard and fast recommendations, washing your cotton mask once a day is sufficient.

“Porous surfaces such as cotton fabric are the best in terms of having the shortest amount of time that virus could live on them,” he explains. He says that disposable paper masks can be reused if you take them off and leave them in an area where no one is going to touch them for a day before wearing them again.

“Remember, the point of the mask is to prevent you from spreading secretions,” he says. So, anything that’s on the mask will be your own secretions.

“Hand wash or machine wash with detergent,” Yeh says. “You don’t need to run a whole wash cycle just for your mask.”

And remember, the safest and most effective way to wear a mask is to make sure it covers the nose and goes under the chin. Limit the amount of gapping around the circumference, and you’ll be good to go.