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Yvonne Ncube/Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Reporters
UNTIL last week, l felt quite safe behind two layers of cloth.

Since the advent of the novel coronavirus, Double Masking has become a common trend in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and the world at large.

At first the idea of masking seemed ridiculous to many, they thought it was just a passing phase.

Many people vowed never to wear a mask, but with the rising number of cases, deaths and ever-changing variants it started to ring a bell that Covid-19 is real.

The beginning of the first lockdown in Zimbabwe, in March last year saw the introduction of face masks, which marked the fate that everyone feared – the mouth and the nose became private parts.

Seeing someone’s teeth has become exceptionally foreign.

Today, few are reminded to wear their face masks as most tread with double.

It has become a norm.

The crisscrossing of strings has become a popular trend especially amongst the youth. For them double-masking is just a trend they have to follow, while for others, it is triggered by fear as well as a measure to curb the novel virus.

Designers have found a niche in making designer masks that have proved to be in demand. Diverse designs have emerged, some are polos stretching from the neck all the way to the back of the head.

Every vendor in the City of Kings and Queens has become the source of cheap masks, which mostly are pegged at either 10 and 20 Zimbabwean dollars.

“Wearing a mask, a challenge at first, I would constantly lower it because it was difficult to breathe in them. But now it’s all different, I even wear double because everyone else is doing it.

“There are fashionable masks these days those boost one’s confidence. When health meets with fashion everything is in order,” said a local resident Anele Mpofu.

“For me wearing a mask is both ways. For fashion and health wise. At first, I was reluctant about the pandemic but when it starts taking close ones that when one starts to realise it’s wiser to suffocate yourself in those masks,” she said.

Mpofu said she sometimes wears a face shield on top of the double masks.
Another resident Gerald Moyo said he started appreciating double masks upon realisation that Covid-19 is real.

“Since last year we have been seeing people die of the virus then measures to prevent are presented to us. Wearing a mask was not comfortable at first, but when you wear something that you know is fashionable you don’t even think of removing the mask, that’s how influential trends are.

“Masking is no longer as boring as it used to be because people have come up with different styles of wearing masks.

With surgical masks it’s easier to make designs with the strings because it’s flexible. We have different designs that we sometimes copy from people on a daily. For that masking is now fun,” said Moyo.

He said everyone, even the older generation are now practicing it.
Ayanda Jena said double masking is a result of peer pressure.

“Most people these days double-mask not because they fear the virus but because of pressure from peers. When someone starts doing something everyone else wants to follow. For me I think a single mask is equally safe if you don’t remove it. These days it’s hot people will start fainting from those masks,” said Jena.

Medical experts have hailed such trends saying they bring positivity.