They’re doing this shearly out of caution.
Hospitals in England are ordering doctors with more than a day’s worth of beard stubble to shave on-site to ensure protective masks fit properly during the coronavirus crisis, according to a report Wednesday.
Craig Sheridan, a general practitioner at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk, said he was yanked out of a line into the building to have his facial fuzz inspected Tuesday, according to The Telegraph.
“I was told you can’t have more than a day’s worth of stubble,” he said. “The face masks have to fit flush against the skin in order for them to be fitted properly.”
Sheridan, who had shaved earlier in the day, was handed a shaving pack and asked to get rid of his five o’clock shadow, according to the outlet.
The doctor, who normally wears a full beard, was first asked to go clean-shaven six days ago so his FFP3 mask fits correctly, he said. But hospital staff has become stricter with the rule in recent days.
Other doctors were buzzing about the shaving regime, too.
Sameer Mallick — a 37-year-old surgeon at the Royal Derby Hospital— said he had worn a beard since age 20 as part of his Muslim religion.
“But in a time like this you have to be sensible,” he said of the coronavirus pandemic. “You have to save the lives of others and you have to do what it takes, so that’s what I’ve done.”
