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Please Enjoy The Most Bizarre Ways People Are Protecting Themselves From Coronavirus
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Please Enjoy The Most Bizarre Ways People Are Protecting Themselves From Coronavirus

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March 17, 2020
Coronavirus Protection: The Funniest & Most Bizarre Safety Precautions

Alana is the staff writer on AWOL who thinks the…

As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, people are protecting themselves any way they can.

Sometimes that’s by washing their hands regularly with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitiser, covering their mouth and nose when they sneeze and distancing themselves from people showing symptoms. Great, that’s what the World Health Organisation advises, love that for us.

And other times, it’s by wearing a giant cardboard disc in public to keep crowds away, wearing a bra as a face mask or cutting customer’s hair with poles from a distance.

Here are 5 of the most bizarre things people have done to try and protect themselves from coronavirus:

#1 Wearing a giant cardboard body shield.

As WHO advises everyone to maintain at least a 1-metre distance from anyone coughing or sneezing, this man’s DIY body shield is a whole mood.

Seen in a market in Italy, the shield is really just a giant cardboard disc with a hole in the centre for the wearer to stand in. He can also be seen wielding a pick-up reacher tool, presumably so he can still interact with things beyond the disc. Brilliant.

[media_embed]https://youtu.be/l-qULJjRQok?t=10[/media_embed]

#2 Greeting people with the “coronavirus handshake”

What do you do when you’re not supposed to touch other people? Apart from just… not touching them, people on TikTok have adopted the “coronavirus handshake” as an alternative to skin-to-skin contact.

The trend started with people recreating Lindsay Lohan’s handshake with her butler from The Parent Trap, but after we were told to practice social distancing it took on a new life.

[media_embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obgA89jHi0U[/media_embed]

Now, people perform the handshake without ever touching the other person, and end with a squirt of hand sanitiser.

#3 Wearing DIY face masks.

Hoo boy, a lot of y’all are out there wearing face masks that are not made like real face masks.

People have been spotted in makeshift face masks that have been made out of everything from water jugs, plastic bags, gas masks and even motorbike helmets.

 

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Then there are the people who have modified their masks to be more, ahem, convenient, I guess?

Some people have foregone masks entirely in favour of full-body plastic sheets.

There are even tutorials online for turning a bra into a face mask. Friendly PSA: this method seems to work better for girls with itty bitty things. Ladies, if you wear anything above a D cup, you might be out of luck.

Just a reminder: wearing a mask won’t prevent you from getting coronavirus. They only help prevent people who have the virus from spreading it to others. Just something to consider before you repurpose your favourite bra.

#4 Travelling inside a personal tent.

Can you even believe it used to be February? March feels endless, and ageless, and the only thing I can remember from last month is this man who sat inside a personal tent to protect himself from coronavirus.

The man was Rick Pescovitz, who once appeared on Shark Tank to sell his “Under The Weather Pods”. They’re originally designed to wear at outdoor events to protect the wearer from the sun, wind and rain, but Pescovitz decided to whip it out on a flight.

Personally, I’d like to see these rolled out on long flights once this is all over. A see-through barrier between you and the other trash monsters passengers sounds excellent.

#5 Hairdressers are getting creative.

I guess even now people need to get their hair cut. In Chinese salons, hairdressers have started using long poles with tools attached to the end to wash and cut customers’ hair.

And hey, it looks effective. Those cuts are fresh and I imagine small talk would be too hard when you’re a pole’s length away from a chatty hairdresser.

It’s hard to say what’s really effective and what’s more for our own peace of mind, but no matter what you do, remember the basics:

[media_embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPITHEiFWLc[/media_embed]

(Lead image: Jami Kinton / TikTok & James Felton / Twitter)

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Alana is the staff writer on AWOL who thinks the best way to travel is by taking spontaneous detours and stopping at every local bakery to try the cakes. She writes a lot about Australian TV, Big Things, cursed food, and theme parks. You can follow her on Instagram @alana.dotcom. It’s mostly dogs she meets along the way.

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