It is an object halfway between the mask and the visor.
"We do not really know what to call it", breaths, annoyed, the general practitioner and writer Christian Lehmann.
Known to be more comfortable to wear, more comfortable to speak, these half-visors attached to the chin are making a place for themselves on many faces, in particular of restaurateurs.
They are, however, ineffective in the fight against coronavirus contaminations, alert doctors.
On the Amazon platform, or on others specializing in kitchen accessories, these plastic masks are snapped up for 15 euros to 30 euros.
On a site that presents itself as the "French leader" in professional catering equipment, these visors are described as follows: "Ideal for equipment restaurant owners, to avoid postilions when preparing your dishes".
This type of protection is sold on Amazon for around 15 euros / Amazon
To avoid postilions, perhaps, but not for contamination with the coronavirus.
And this the company knows very well.
In the comments, she specifies for the attention of an interested customer that "these visors are not approved as part of the fight against Covid-19, they therefore do not replace masks in case of control".
They are not actually certified by the standard of the French Association for Standardization (Afnor), the sole guarantor of the health safety of protections against Covid-19.
"You can see my smile, it's a plus for customers"
“We were offered to sell this type of product, and at first we didn't believe it at all.
Our supplier told us that it was very popular, even in the canteens of the ministries it is used.
We put it online and it actually worked.
This is something that has a real interest for our customers ”, justifies an executive of the company, who remained anonymous.
At the risk of creating confusion?
“These protections were already sold before the crisis.
We do not commit to the health side, it avoids spitting in the dishes, ”she emphasizes.
In any case, these "face shields" have found their audience.
From restaurateurs or traders, including a mask that would hide the face from customers and cause physical discomfort, up to television, where the candidates of the show of M 6 the Best Pastry Chef are all equipped, as evidenced by this short video clip.
Let's go for a new season of the Best Pastry Chef !!
# m6 #LMP #GourmandCroquant pic.twitter.com/f5rosPVyyo
- Cyril Lignac (@cyril_lignac) September 30, 2020
“It doesn't make you sweat and you can see my smile, it's a plus for customers.
Me, I think it protects postilions I am not at the same level as the seated people ”, confides for her part the owner of a Parisian restaurant in the 17th arrondissement.
Aerosol contamination at the heart of the problem
An erroneous vision, according to specialists, already cautious about the use of so-called “classic” visors, which cover the entire face.
"With a visor, very clearly, you protect yourself from the big postilions and you stop those of the others", assures us the virologist Yves Gaudin, of the Institute of integrative biology of the cell (I2BC) of Paris-Saclay, for whom the the problem is with aerosols.
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“You limit them, but it's much less effective than masks because the visor lets air through.
However, aerosols float in the air.
Part of the aerosol will stop, but another can pass below the visor, and float between the mouth and the mask, ”he explains to the Parisian.
“There is a gradian, the mask offers the best protection, the visor is actually less good, it does not protect against aerosols.
But it's still better than nothing!
"
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The visor may have been received as a "good idea" at the start, recognizes Christian Lehmann, who raised the alarm on these new devices, relayed by several of his colleagues.
“But there are images that show that when someone sneezes, it explodes in front and goes off to the sides.
But there, with these kinds of feeders, it's worse, ”he storms.
“It doesn't have any kind of effectiveness.
It is not difficult to understand that if you sneeze and cough, it stays on the visor, in a few seconds it's disgusting.
Or it bounces off the visor and goes out in an arc.
Obviously for the person wearing it it does not filter the inspired air, so if there is virus in the air, they will ingest it.
It does not protect the wearer, or the one next to it, ”says the doctor, who denounces the lack of government communication around aerosolization, the transmission of the virus in the air.
“If this system continues, it is because no alert has been made. And the police must be annoyed because they do not know if they should issue a ticket. There is such a lack of understanding of the mechanisms that a police officer, if he is not told that the equipment is not approved, he will not go and look for it. We waste time, a week, a fortnight. However, the Covid-19 takes advantage of each weakness, ”insists Dr. Christian Lehmann.