Dr. Tom Lawton added while the masks are indeed uncomfortable to run in, it does not impair breathing and are perfectly safe and aid in slowing the spread of coronavirus.
A doctor in England has taken matters into his own hands to prove that masks are safe and do not impair your breathing, running 22 miles with a face mask on to prove the point.
Throughout his run, Dr. Tom Lawton used a pulse oximeter, a medical device that measures the saturation of oxygen in a person's red blood cells. The device clips to your finger and with that and a mask, he was off and running.
"The mask didn't come off at all (no food or drink) -- and oxygen levels were stubbornly 98% every time I checked," he wrote on Twitter following his run on July 20.
Lawton works in the ICU and insists that masks are safe and should be made mandatory during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I was frustrated because I've seen some photos where people who sat at a desk wearing a mask and claimed that the oxygen levels dropped just simply wearing a mask," Lawton told CNN.
He added while the masks are indeed uncomfortable to run in, it does not impair breathing and said they are perfectly safe. They also aid in slowing the spread of coronavirus, he said.
"I don't think that masks are going to solve this on their own," Lawton told CNN. "We need to keep distance, comply with isolation, wash hands and wear a mask."
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