Bored Panda spoke with Cristina Rodo about her awesome Facehugger mask. According to her, she made the mask to participate in the coronavirus mask competition from Fiberart Fever. "It took me about three all days to do. It's wet felted and then needle felted, for the details."

"After I submitted it for the competition, I shared it on several art groups and people went absolutely crazy (in one of them I already had 3k likes and counting). I wasn't really expecting that. 

Most people think it's real cool. Many say they are scared/repulsed by the it, but still admire it. It's supposed to be scary, it's a life sucker, like the virus itself."

Cristina revealed that she's a big fan of the Alien movies and of movies in general.

"The quarantine hasn't affected me that much since I already worked from home, I'm a fiber artist. Still working, like usual. Now my husband and (big) kid are grounded too, but we all get along very well so it's peaceful," she told us about how her family's dealing with the quarantine.

Common sense dictates that any mask is better than no mask, right? When it comes to protecting yourself during the pandemic, it’s better to be safe than sorry. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t look cool and majestic! From witch doctor masks to artistic masterpieces, people are showing a lot of creativity even when things are looking grim.

But do face masks really work against the coronavirus and do they protect you? A lot of countries believe so. For instance, some places like Lombardy, in Italy, made wearing face masks mandatory. Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend people at least wear “cloth face coverings” when they’re outside. The CDC even posted instructions on how to make them.

Part of the reason why there are recommendations to wear DIY face masks is to make sure that US medical workers get access to the limited supply of protective equipment. Simply put, some doctors and nurses are using their own homemade masks at the moment. But they need real equipment because they’re on the frontlines in the fight against Covid-19.

Paul Hunter at the University of East Anglia and his colleagues analyzed 31 studies about how effective face masks are. “Our view is that there was some evidence of a degree of protection, but it wasn’t great. So we still don’t effectively know if face masks in the community work,” he said. Though the findings are inconclusive, I’ll repeat myself: it’s better to be safe than sorry. So get working on those unique face masks, dear Pandas!