Tag: face masks

  • Man walks into govt office wearing birds’ nest as he couldn’t afford a mask

    Man walks into govt office wearing birds’ nest as he couldn’t afford a mask

    As the deadly second wave of COVID-19 ravages India, authorities have made the use of face masks in public mandatory and announced that violators will be fined Rs 1,000.

    Read more – Mattress factory sealed for stuffing used face masks instead of cotton

    A shepherd hailing from Telangana, India who could not afford a face mask came up with an innovative solution to avoid getting fined.

    According to details, Mekala Kurmayya had to visit the government office to collect his pension but could not afford a face mask. Knowing he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the office without a face mask, the Telangana shepherd made a face mask from a bird’s nest and wore it on his his face before stepping into the office.

    While that doesn’t look very comfortable, it appears to have gotten the job done.

    India has reported 19,925,500  cases so far. As of Monday morning, 218,959 people had died in the country.

  • Mattress factory sealed for stuffing used face masks instead of cotton

    Mattress factory sealed for stuffing used face masks instead of cotton

    The police in India have sealed a mattress-making factory in Maharashtra for using discarded masks instead of cotton or other material to stuff its products.

    As per reports, a case has been registered against the owner of the unit with the police starting an investigation into the matter. Piles of face masks were also recovered from the premises of the mattress factory.

    The seized masks pile was burnt as per the prescribed norms.

    The illegal activity at the Maharashtra Mattress Centre was reported to the officials at a police station at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), Jalgaon.

    Read more – Man digs tunnel to capture ‘jinns, churails’

    Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gawali said: “When officials visited the premises of the factory in Kusumba village of MIDC, they found a mattress being stuffed with used masks.”

    The production of face masks in India has increased significantly from March of last year when the country was producing 1.5 crore units each day.

  • Punjab police make face-mask violators stand in scorching sun

    As the country battles the third wave of COVID-19, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has asked the provinces to ensure the strict implementation of SOPs to control the spread of the virus.

    Talking to Dawn, Lahore Commissioner retired Capt Muhammad Usman warned that those found violating the SOPs will be sent to jail.

    “We are passing through peak time of the third wave of the coronavirus that is spreading very fast in Lahore in particular and other parts of Punjab in general. Since many Covid-19 positive patients are being shifted to hospitals [in Lahore] on a daily basis, we have decided to ensure strict preventive measure to avert the further spread of the virus,” said the commissioner.

    He added: “We have decided to launch a crackdown from March 28 against all those not wearing masks, besides flouting other SOPs. We have been left with no option but to arrest all those found without masks on the city roads, markets, hospitals, parks, shops, malls etc.”

    As per reports, more than 400 first information reports (FIRs) have been filed against face-mask violators in Lahore with dozens of them taken into custody.

    The assistant commissioner of Jhelum’s Pind Dadan Khan city came up with a rare punishment for mask violators as he made them stand in the scorching sun for over half an hour.

    Punjab has already imposed a partial lockdown in the province banning mass transport, weddings and ordering markets to close by 6 pm to avoid the spread of the virus.

  • VIDEO: Waitress quits job on spot after customer refuses to wear mask

    VIDEO: Waitress quits job on spot after customer refuses to wear mask

    A waitress in the United States quit her job on the spot after a customer refused to wear a face mask.

    In a video doing the rounds on social media, a couple can be seen entering a restaurant. The woman was not wearing a mask so a waitress came up to her and requested her to wear her mask.

    The customer kept arguing with her telling her that she will go to her table quickly. She was told that she will only be allowed once she puts on her mask in response to which the customer said that she does not want to spoil her lipstick. 

    Later, the manager came and tried to convince the customer, who continued to resist.

    The waitress then said: “It’s people like you who make it difficult for having a job. I don’t get paid enough to be here.”

    She took off her apron and cap and told the manager that all this “is not even her fault” and then she left the restaurant stating that she quit.

    The customer agreed to wear the mask after the waitress left.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBBrZvdeHKw&t=65s
  • Face masks ‘helping criminals escape arrest’ in Islamabad

    Face masks ‘helping criminals escape arrest’ in Islamabad

    With face masks becoming the norm in these COVID-19 times, criminals are misusing them to hide their identity while carrying out their crimes.

    According to reports, criminals are making use of face masks to easily blend in with customers at malls or banks. Because of these masks, they are also able to evade CCTV cameras.

    “If it were pre-COVID 19, I could have averted the happening by finding veiled people chasing me. But now it is normal. They looted me and sped away. One had face mask while the other wore a helmet,” shared APP senior reporter Ishtiaq Ahmed who was robbed of Rs800,000 in Islamabad on September 23 in broad daylight.

    He said the mask provided a perfect cover to the robbers, adding that they can hold up any bank or shop with their covered faces and escape unchecked as the police rarely bother to confiscate the bikes carrying no or non-standard number plates.

    In another robbery of Rs1.5 million in Islamabad on September 30, a masked man was seen inside a bank who apparently intimated his assistants on phone having witnessed a man leaving the bank with a cash bag.

    “Earlier the bandanna or mask was a risky proposition for criminals. Nowadays it is normal but scary too. We can’t distinguish between customers and criminals,” a bank employee said.

    Talking to APP, a senior police officer, who did not want to be named, said though the crime increase had nothing to do with face mask. However, he agreed that it made it easier for the criminals to blend in.

    He agreed that under anti-COVID SOPs, a provision could be created to allow security staff outside banks or malls to ask visitors to remove face mask at the entrance to allow cameras to capture the face.

    He also said that other than face coverings, criminals or suspected people could also be singled out through their body language, movement or confidence when questioned.

    Not only in Pakistan, criminals’ wearing surgical masks is an issue getting global attention with some countries also pondering to revise SOPs or making specialised security arrangements to keep the criminals from entering establishments.

    The installation of vestibules, the use of high-quality cameras and identification software are being used to identify the face behind masks. In America, police have directed people, to note some special sign of the masked criminals like shoes or jacket brand, belt, socks color, face scars, or tattoos to make identification easier.

  • Up your fashion game with these fancy fabric face masks

    Up your fashion game with these fancy fabric face masks

    There’s no denying the fact that masks are the new norm and have become an essential part of our lives. While the World Health Organisation recommends medical masks for healthcare workers, elderly people, people with underlying health conditions, and people who have tested positive for the coronavirus or show symptoms, healthy individuals who don’t fall into these categories can get away with wearing a cool, fabric mask. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends cloth masks for the general public.

    Designers across the world have started introducing face masks into their collections and Pakistani brands are not far behind. Many of them have launched printed and embroidered masks for those who are bored with the regular surgical masks or the N-95s.

    The Current has listed a few brands where you can purchase a mask and add a unique twist to your outfits:

    Alkaram

    Alkaram has masks for kids and adults for Rs 150.

    Website: https://www.alkaramstudio.com/accessories/mask/cambric-mask

    Huma Adnan

    Huma Adnan has some very fancy face masks ranging from Rs 1000 to 3000.

    Website: https://humaadnan.com/mask/basic-mask.html

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CEO_N5kpbX4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    Read more – Ayeza Khan makes a fashion statement with a face mask

    Khaadi

    Website: https://pk.khaadi.com/accessories/trending/face-masks/afm20312-green-afm20312-green-pk.html

    Zeen

    Zeen is giving a pack of two face masks for Rs 195.

    Website: https://zeenwoman.com/collections/maskmask

  • 6-year-old girl chokes on ‘face mask cooked inside McDonald’s chicken nuggets’

    6-year-old girl chokes on ‘face mask cooked inside McDonald’s chicken nuggets’

    A six-year-old girl choked on pieces of a face mask found inside McDonald’s chicken nuggets, her mother claims. 

    Laura Arber said she discovered this in at least two of the 20 nuggets she had bought for her children from the fast food branch in Aldershot, Hampshire, yesterday.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zOpS7CXHFw

    According to details, the 32-year-old had taken three of her four children to the restaurant to pick up the order. Laura says she saw her daughter having difficulty eating before claiming to find parts of a blue disposal face mask.

    She said: “My little daughter just started choking and I put my fingers down her throat to loop it out there was just blue with the sick. I thought what on earth is this? I didn’t even think it could be the chicken nugget but looked over at the box and all you could see was this blue coming out of another chicken nugget in the box of 20.”

    “And the mask is cooked into it, like a part of the mixture and it’s clearly a mask. You can see the seam and how solid it is in there.”

    She spoke to the manager and claims she was told that the nuggets were not cooked on site.

    Laura claimed she did not receive an apology and was shocked that the restaurant did not stop serving nuggets.

    The mother added: “And the worst thing was that they carried on serving them. Before I left I said: ‘Are you going to keep serving them?’”

    “And they were carrying on serving them and that was the big thing for me. I just couldn’t believe the way the management were handling it.”

    “What if I had walked out of the room and my daughter had choked?,” asked the mother. “She could have died. It’s a split second thing. And I am just thinking, we have just come out of a pandemic and there is a face mask in my child’s chicken nugget.”

    Laura’s son was born in intensive care and she stayed in accommodation provided by Ronald McDonald House Charities UK for families whose children are very ill in hospital.

    She said she had always held the company in high esteem because of the way they helped her but said her experience yesterday left her feeling a disappointed.

    A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to hear about this customer’s experience. Food safety is of the utmost importance to us and we place great emphasis on quality control, following rigorous standards to avoid any imperfections.”

    “When the matter was brought to the attention of our staff, we apologised, offered a full refund and asked the customer to return the item so we could further investigate the matter and isolate the affected product.”

  • Pakistan receives export orders of face masks from US, Canada and Europe

    Pakistan receives export orders of face masks from US, Canada and Europe

    Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood has said that Pakistani exporters have received large orders of face masks from the United States (US), Canada and Europe.

    In a series of tweets on Thursday, he congratulated the exporters and termed their achievement a major breakthrough in the country’s export sector.

    “I have received information that some exporters have obtained large orders for face masks from US, Canada and Europe. This is a major breakthrough and I congratulate them for this achievement,” he tweeted.

    He further emphasised the need for Pakistani exporters to diversify into new segments in order to meet the changing global needs.

    “It is part of our strategy to diversify into new segments and this has been achieved by the exporters through their own efforts. I’m sharing this information with others to encourage them to seek more orders from different parts of the world,” he stated.

    Separately, the adviser stated that in order to achieve the target of agricultural exports, the government was striving hard to make space in the rice markets of the Middle East, North America and Africa.

    Talking to APP, he said the government intends to take the exports to the highest-ever level and in this regard, it was taking different measures to reclaim traditional markets besides getting access to new ones.

    “All members of the Rice Exports Association Pakistan (REAP) should prepare themselves for this opportunity so that they could get their orders approved in the Mexican market.”

    He further informed that rice export to Mexico was stagnant for the past few years but after the delegation’s visit, “we are hoping that our rice will be able to enter the Mexican market”.

    Dawood said that rice was the largest agro-export commodity in the country’s export basket, having a total volume of over $2 billion, which would be increased to $5 billion in the next five years.

  • Ayeza Khan makes a fashion statement with a face mask

    Ayeza Khan makes a fashion statement with a face mask

    Have to say, we saw this one coming. Given how important a mask is during the ongoing global pandemic, it was only a matter of time before designers started producing well, designer masks.

    And Ayeza Khan, for a Ramzan transmission appearance, decided to accessorize her look with a matching mask and said that every outfit should come with a matching mask now.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c1YeIAWef/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c18eLgkUh/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_c2ISBATd6/

    What do you think of the trend?

    Following criticism on social media, Ayeza hit back saying that masks are an essential now and that designers were just trying to meet the growing demands.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_dsijynxrG/

    Here is her complete look, minus the mask.

  • Maria B pledges 100,000 masks to battle coronvavirus

    Maria B pledges 100,000 masks to battle coronvavirus

    Following the footsteps of Asim Jofa and Deepak Perwani, who are producing hazmat suits for healthcare workers, Maria B has also announced that her brand is producing 1000 masks a day in both cotton and 25 GSM approved fabric. However, her masks are not for healthcare workers.

    Maria has also pledged 100,000 masks “to distribute to as many people as possible and our LEA’s.”

    “Everyone needs to wear a mask. We will get through this together,” asserted the designer.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ANmUapwUd/

    Meanwhile, in a press release, Maria B said, “The brand has always taken steps to help out Pakistan and its people wherever possible. Through our Maria.B Cares initiative we have collaborated with various organisation, government and private sectors in doing what we can, be it fighting against COVID-19, providing rations, healthcare, education or the environment. We do what we can and encourage everyone to join hands and do whatever they can to build a prosperous nation.”

    The press release added that the brand is also working closely with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) by providing them with masks, industrial/pocket sanitizers, PPE suits, gloves, face shields, caps and shoe covers.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ANt2NJ5U5/

    Maria B was recently involved in a controversy after she allowed her cook, who had been tested positive for COVID-19, to travel back home on public transport. Her husband had been arrested for criminal negligence and the incident had sparked national outrage.