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Comment by maaaaattttt | Hacker News Reader

I used to walk to school in sometimes very cold weather (-35 Celsius). Once, in order to try preventing the inside of my nose to freeze, I put my scarf over it. The scarf froze very quickly and I ended up with ice around my neck... Now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder how people will manage masks this year with COVID in cold countries.

TL;DR: don’t put a scarf over your nose in very cold temperatures.

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I'm Canadian and we get -35 temperatures for at least a few days every winter. This doesn't make sense to me. Of course you should put a scarf over your nose. At those temperatures , exposed skin freezes very quickly so you need to cover all your skin or you'll get frostbite.

I've never had a problem with a scarf freezing stiff like you describe. They build up ice crystals of course, but they don't interfere with air flow and are easily broken.

The biggest problem I expect from wearing a mask in the winter is that they'll get damp quickly because the cold temperatures, and perhaps having a scarf over top, will prevent moisture from evaporating.

I usually ride my motorcycle through winters in the upper midwest. No, it's not Canada, but at highway speeds in freezing weather it gets cold very quickly. I can't cover my whole face with cloth, or my breath will fog up and freeze over my glasses and visor. I apply vaseline over all of my exposed skin before riding. It does a great job of protecting my skin. I also do this when bicycling through extremely cold weather.

Heh.. many people commented on that. Perhaps you had a "single layer" that made it hard since the droplets/water from your exhale got stuck in the fabric, and together with the atmosphere's humidity created this effect.

In such cold climates I wear an ultra long scarf (2m-2.5m), I wrap my neck/jaw/ears 3-4-5 times (depending how tight) and I tuck it in my jacket. The outside of the scarf freezes, the inside remains warm. I also try to breathe by my nose, less humid.

Would a coronavirus survive in these conditions anyhow? Or, remain transmittable?

It's a virus not a bacteria so the proteins don't disintegrate. The probability of transmission outside is small as sensibly people limit the time outside, but the flipside is they stay indoors, in confined spaces together, which is perfect breeding ground for the virus.

Last I heard the coronavirus survives a lot longer in freezing conditions than at room temperature.

Cold acts as a preservative for viruses. In labs which do experiments with viruses, they keep viruses in freezers for a looong time.

Coronaviruses cause the common cold, which is more common when it's cold.

>TL;DR: don’t put a scarf over your nose in very cold temperatures.

Weird, as a Canadian who has been through many -35 days, I absolutely use a face covering, whether that's a scarf, neck gaiter, mask...Never had any problem like that.

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