Ramaphosa laughs off 'mask blunder', but was he correct in his application?

Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphos has laughed off social media comments about his ‘mask blunder’, joking that he would create a TV show to teach people how to wear masks.  

Many South Africans found comic relief in Ramaphosa attempting to wear a mask on TV at the end of his address to the country on Thursday night. He appeared to be struggling to put the mask on as it covered his eyes and with him attempting to lower it towards his mouth.

There have been a flood of memes created since, poking fun at the president. He has decided to laugh off the comments.

"For those who were laughing at me yesterday, I am going to open a TV channel where I am going to teach people how to put on a mask," he said on Friday following his visit to the Nasrec conference centre where a quarantine facility has been set-up to deal with Covid-19 patients.

The use of masks has been encouraged by the government as an approach to curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Ramaphosa said citizens should wear masks when they leave their homes.

Even with the comical relief, it appears there has been a video circulating on social media which seems to point out that Ramaphosa’s attempts at putting on the mask was correct and safe way to avoid touching one’s face.

A video of UCT Professor Marc Mendelson shows him demonstrating how to put on a mask without touching one’s face. Mendelson does it in a similar manner that Ramaphosa had done so on Thursday.