People called out Lana Del Rey on the Internet for her apparent mesh mask at a spontaneous book signing last month. The comments said Del Rey's choice of mask during the pandemic was very irresponsible since it provides little to no protection. Considering that the nature of the event required a lot of one-on-one interaction, the photos and videos of the singer posing with fans only made things worse.
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Eventually, it got so bad, Lana decided to respond to the controversy herself.
In October, Lana uploaded some content on her social media accounts at a book signing event in LA to celebrate the release of her poetry collection Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass
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Image credits: lanadelrey_newss
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Image credits: lanadelrey_newss
California has been hit really hard by the pandemic. The state has had over 1,053,290 confirmed cases with over 20,330 deaths. Its residents are required to wear face coverings in public spaces as well as indoors and in areas where social distancing is not possible.
Immediately, people started accusing the famous singer of not taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously
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Lana appeared with a very similar mask on the cover of Interview magazine
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General practitioner, medical researcher, and founder of PrimeHealth Clinical Research, Iris Gorfinkel, M.D., told Bored Panda that mesh face coverings aren't effective — respiratory droplets are tiny and can easily travel through such material.
Gorfinkel said that generally, the higher the thread count (and amount of layers), the better the mask. "Three layers are best. Basically, the rule is to do the best you can with the thickest material you can get. Masks with valves allow droplets through, so those are not recommended. Neck gators are also not quite good. You basically want to have something that fits around the face so that it's comfortable."
However, the doctor noted that face masks are not recommended for children under two and people who have difficulties with breathing as well as for those with disabilities making it hard to put on a mask and take it off.
That being said, masks are hugely important in preventing future lockdowns, especially when they're combined with social distancing, hand hygiene, and adequate ventilation. "While none of these individual parts are perfect, it is the sum of these pieces that keep our businesses running and moves us in the direction we once knew and enjoyed."
The picture was captioned: "Please wear a mask. (Just not, you know, this one.)"
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Eventually, the controversy inspired Madeleine Virginia Gannon to write an article for the Michigan Daily that questioned the trend of cancel culture in relation to Lana
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Lana read it and decided to respond to the whole ordeal: "The mask had plastic on the inside. They're commonly sewn in by stylists these days"
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Image credits: LanaDelRey
People were wondering why it took her a month to do so
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So she explained that as well
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According to The Independent, the singer's sister, Caroline "Chuck" Grant, also responded to these people, letting them know that Lana had "tested negative" and was standing "more than six feet away" from fans at the signing. While the first claim can be true, the photos from the event suggest the second one isn't.
Here's what people have been saying after her last tweet
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