Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, health agencies across the world have recommended using face masks to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.?Face masks have become an indispensable part of our lives and will remain so for the foreseeable future.?
Since the stock for medical-grade personal protective equipment is not enough for everyone to access, health experts have suggested alternatives like?fabric masks which can easily be made at home.
However, there are some people who have taken 'alternative' face masks a notch above the rest by making gold and silvers ones.?
A few days ago, a man in Pune got himself a mask made of gold, worth Rs 2.9 lakh. "It's a thin mask with minute holes so that there is no difficulty in breathing. I am not sure whether this mask will be effective," said Shankar Kurade.?
However, people were not supportive of Kurade’s choice and slammed him for flaunting a useless luxury in pressing times. One Twitter user wrote, 'What is this nonsense? One guy is showing off his asset and lakhs are struggling day and night to meet the ends need. Their children are sleeping hungry,they are passing each single day thinking about tomorrow. What is this futile need of property? What a waste-as human,as asset.'
Another wrote, 'Gold mask seems so unnecessary. He had 10000 different ways to spend that money ?But okay, he can afford to. Unlike us'.
Also Read:?Another Man, Another Gold Face Mask. This One Is Worth Rs 3.5 Lakh??
Another man making masks from precious metals is a jeweller in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore. The Coimbatore-based goldsmith has been designing face masks with gold and silver threads, and baffled netizens are wondering who is buying these.?
?News agency ANI reported about Radhakrishnan Sundaram Acharya, who designs the masks using thin gold and silver threads.
Though each gold mask that is made using 18-carat gold costs around Rs 2.75 lakh, Acharya said that he has so far received nine orders.“I’m aware that a common man cannot afford to wear these masks, but rich people can use them for royal weddings,” he said.
"We draw gold wires that are 0.06mm in thickness and this is the only machine work. After getting these fine and flexible wires, we use them for knitting and weaving. We have received orders from Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several places up north. But the farther the distance, people refuse to buy due to the issues involved in logistics. So far there are 9 confirmed orders and we receive a lot of enquiries on a daily basis” Radhakrishnan Sundaram Acharya, the shop-owner and goldsmith told WION.
Unlike the Pune man's face mask which had holes and was not really safe for use, the Coimbatore jeweller claims that his face mask is reusable and has layers of cloth stitched within.?“The portion on top is made of metal and inside it we have the multiple layers of cloth material which are used in mask-making. It can be washed and re-used, but twisting it for any reason it is a strict no. If required later on, one can even get a goldsmith to replace the cloth material with a new one for the sake of better protection,” he says.
But the question remains as to why would anyone want to invest so much money at a time when thousands are starving for one square meal a day? One Twitter user wrote, 'I duly respect his efforts for this creativity but having it done at the time of crisis, when our economy has fallen low and people are together fighting the battle of life, is not justified. On the contrary, it will raise security concerns for the person who will wear it'.
The debate among many is that face masks are meant for protection and making it a piece of luxury in the current situation is uncalled for.?At this point, one could very easily say 'to each his own' or 'what someone does with their money is nobody's business' or that the 'goldsmiths are also trying to float their business'.? But in the middle of a pandemic, matters are centred around life and death, so is it not an unnecessary possession??
While health experts have already expressed doubts on the reusability of simple cloth masks, the 'gold mask' seems to raise doubts about practicality.?Many studies claim that novel coronavirus can linger for up to five days on metal surfaces.?While there's no conclusive study on gold and coronavirus specifically, is it really worth risking safety in the name of luxury??
Also Read: We Will Be Wearing Face Masks For Years And For Our Own Good, Suggests Pandemic Expert