Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

Newsflash/@Petrovych1

This is the moment a man does his COVID-19 lockdown supermarket shopping in a creepy historical plague mask.

The incident was filmed by a stunned shopper in the city of Zbarazh in the western Ukrainian region of Ternopil Oblast, and the footage has been widely shared on social media.

In the video, the man, name and age undisclosed, is seen wearing a black coat, gloves and walking stick while a plague mask covers his head.

The shopper then pays at the counter before coolly leaving the premises with a female companion who is wearing a comparatively modest face mask over her mouth and nose.

Netizen ‘Oleh Pusha’ said: “That is so practical! A major benefit is that you can simply peck someone in front of you in the queue.”

‘Jurij Salko’ commented: “Self-protection is a key.”

Doctors in Europe commonly used beak-like masks during various waves of plague pandemics in Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries.

The masks were usually filled with aromatic substances and were designed to protect the wearer against putrid air, seen as the major cause of infection at the time.

The mask’s design is commonly attributed to the chief physician of King Louix XIII of France, Charles de Lorme, who practised medicine in several regions across Europe in the 17th century.

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