Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest cheeky medical advice is about Coronavirus

Gwyneth Paltrow is known for good acting and poor medical advice and the Goop founder continued that trend this week. The actor’s latest health-related recommendation isn’t about vaginal steams or colon cleanses, but about the very scary and very real threat of Coronavirus.Paltrow shared a picture of herself on Instagram wearing an Urban Air Mask 2.0, which sells for $99 USD and is currently sold out online. The mask is the equivalent to the N95-filtering-facepiece respirator, which the CDC recommends for healthcare professionals and those who are already suffering from Coronavirus. According to the LA Times, these masks could become impossible to access should a pandemic around Coronavirus ensue.As noted by the Government of Canada, the masks only work to keep germs in, therefore stopping the spread of infection by those who have Coronavirus. The masks are not designed to keep healthy people from getting sick. Wearing a mask when healthy can actually have detrimental effects by giving users a false sense of security and masks can quickly become contaminated.[video_embed id='1909604']RELATED: Sanitizer prices soar amid coronavirus fears[/video_embed]Paltrow’s picture comes one day after Kate Hudson posted a selfie showing the actor wearing a surgical mask while on board a flight. Commenters were quick to point out that Hudson’s mask is even more useless around the Coronavirus.Paltrow’s selfie while en route to Paris includes a recommendation to avoid shaking hands and to engage in frequent hand washing, which is good advice. The actor also made a joke about her 2011 film Contagion, writing “Paranoid? Prudent? Panicked? Placid? Pandemic? Propaganda? Paltrow’s just going to go ahead and sleep with this thing on the plane. I’ve already been in this movie.”

 

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En route to Paris. Paranoid? Prudent? Panicked? Placid? Pandemic? Propaganda? Paltrow’s just going to go ahead and sleep with this thing on the plane. I’ve already been in this movie. Stay safe. Don’t shake hands. Wash hands frequently. ?

A post shared by Gwyneth Paltrow (@gwynethpaltrow) on Feb 26, 2020 at 2:59am PST

In the Steven Soderbergh film, Paltrow plays an American businesswoman who returns from a trip to Hong Kong and dies a few days later. Paltrow’s character becomes patient zero for a deadly disease that spreads throughout the world and kills 26 million people. Paltrow’s joke about a fake film and a very real Coronavirus has opened the actor up to more criticism, with many accusing Paltrow of making light of the disease, which has already killed more than 2,700 people worldwide.“Do you really think it’s ok to make light of a situation in which many vulnerable people are and will die by posting that sort of pic? It’s insensitive to do so,” writes one of Paltrow’s followers. “They are not the ones at risk. Poor and vulnerable people are. Do you think these ladies are sitting on buses and trains being exposed because they don’t have a choice and have to go to work in order to feed their families? No, they just use this sad situation to draw attention to themselves. It’s disappointing behaviour from the most privileged in our society. They should know better.”[video_embed id='1908996']RELATED: Canada 'very far ahead' in COVID-19 preparedness[/video_embed]