INFECTION FASHION: Latex Gloves Become Everyday Wear For Hollywood Celebrities

Medical masks and latex gloves are the latest must-have fashions, and celebrities in Hollywood are embracing the new coronavirus wear.

“Celebrities have been spotted wearing latex gloves in recent days in a bid to protect themselves from the growing coronavirus threat,” The Daily Mail writes.

The tabloid’s piece featured pictures of celebrities wearing masks and gloves, including Sylvester Stallone, Dame Joan Collins and reality star Joey Essex. The paper also featured supermodel Naomi Campbell modeling pink gloves with a lavender turtleneck in a Twitter post.

In another post, Campbell is seen wearing gloves on a plane and holding anti-bacterial wipes, with the caption, “Queen of hygiene.”

https://twitter.com/xoxo__luvv/status/1236006369205067776

Meanwhile, “Stallone was spotted protecting his hands while packing his bags at a Whole Foods in Beverly Hills yesterday, while Dame Joan, 86, sported a pair while arriving at LAX for her flight to London on Sunday,” The Mail wrote. Meanwhile, Joey Essex was pictured wearing gloves and a hat for lunch with Friends in London over the weekend.

There are currently 321 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United Kingdom, according to Johns Hopkins. The virus is spreading fast across Europe, with the death toll in Italy increasing by 133 to 366 on Monday, while the number of cases soared from 1,492 to 7,375.

Even the Queen is getting in on the new fashion fad, pictured wearing gloves last week during an indoor investiture ceremony for the first time.

But The Mail included an interview with Dr. Claudia Pastides, who said the virus can be spread even on gloves, which she said “provide a false sense of security and make people less likely to wash their hands with soap and water, which is the most important thing to do.”

“COVID-19 spreads in 2 ways,” the doctor said. “Firstly, through inhaling virus-filled droplets that are released when infected people talk, cough and sneeze and secondly, when people touch a surface with virus-filled droplets on it and then put their hand into their mouth, eyes or nose. Wearing gloves will prevent the droplets getting on the skin of your hands, but they can still be carried on and spread by gloves. If you touch your nose/eyes or mouth with gloves on, you are still at risk of being infected.”

Still, other celebs are joining in. “The masks themselves have become somewhat of a fashion accessory, with the likes of Vanessa Hudgens, Cara Delevinge and Priyanka Chopra Jonas all posting selvies of themselves wearing the masks on Instagram,” Esquire wrote. Bella Hadid also joined the trend.

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Twitterers mocked Campbell for donning gloves, with one saying: “life threatening virus, but make it fashion.”

But others offered praised for Campbell, with one writing, “I love how she’s latching onto the coronavirus and making it fashionable. I’m gonna buy some pink gloves now!’

“Okay but why do I want to wear pink gloves now. What an influencer!” wrote another. “I’ve just bought 40 pairs of pink gloves on Amazon. No regrets!” said a third.

The trend, though, might hurt health care professionals. Dr. Liz Specht, a biologist and engineer who holds a Ph.D. from University of California San Diego, said masks will soon be in short supply.

“Feds say we have a national stockpile of 12M N95 masks and 30M surgical masks (which are not ideal, but better than nothing),” she wrote on Twitter.

“There are about 18M healthcare workers in the US. Let’s assume only 6M HCW are working on any given day. (This is likely an underestimate as most people work most days of the week, but again, I’m playing conservative at every turn.) As COVID19 cases saturate virtually every state and county, which seems likely to happen any day now, it will soon be irresponsible for all HCWs to not wear a mask.”

Her warning: “These HCWs would burn through N95 stockpile in 2 days if each HCW only got ONE mask per day,” she wrote.

And guess where most of the masks are manufactured: China.