Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor:  Joseph Golder,  Agency: Newsflash

This Russian couple have been cheering up their countrymen by creating images with silly masks in the belief that a laugh is the best way to tackle fear around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Konstantin and Polina Mironovs, from the western Russian city of Ekaterinburg in the Sverdlovsk Oblast region, said they were inspired to do the project after reading in UK media that a minute of laughter means five more minutes of life.

Since then they have been creating the photos for followers using everything from diapers through to orange peel and cereal packets.

Most look bizarre and the pair admit are unlikely to work well, in particular those made of newspapers, a knee pad or a wig.

According to Polina, the project was to underline the fact that regardless of whether wearing masks is helpful or not in protecting people from infection, it was just about making people laugh.

She said: “#masksforlaugh is just a funny project. We are not pro or contra medical masks. We just wanted to make people laugh.”

And she added that if the laughter can extend life a little bit, even if they don’t protect from the virus it was still worth it.

She told Newsflash: “We basically wanted to distract people from the negativity they hear about this pandemic and remind them that the best cure in the world is laughter.”

She said that probably the only mast that might even have a slight chance of being in use was the one involving the use of the children’s nappy.

She said: “It covers half of the face and fasteners can well be customised.”

She said her personal favourite was the one with the bells and the fur, which was warm and when her husband Konstantine wore it she always knew where he was.

She said that the newspaper mask been chosen specifically because had a story about bankruptcy on the page saying: “There is nothing more uplifting than someone else’s bankruptcy.”

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