Disney launches new line of cloth face masks

Disney is establishing itself as a Force for good during the coronavirus pandemic, announcing a new line of reusable cloth face masks that feature some of the studio’s most popular characters, from Baby Yoda to Mickey Mouse.

Available for pre-order now on in North America on Shop Disney, these themed face coverings are expected to ship in June, and Disney is also donating one million masks to children and families living in some of America’s most vulnerable communities.

The masks are not currently on sale in the UK. A spokesperson for Disney tells Yahoo: “The face masks aren’t currently available on shopDisney in Europe, but we will continue to explore opportunities to provide these products to our fans around the world.”

Drawing on its extensive catalogue of brands, Disney is releasing its masks in themed four-packs for $19.99 (around £16).

The individual collections include Star Wars, Marvel, Disney Princesses, Pixar, Mickey Mouse and other classic Mouse House characters.

In addition to its donation of 1 million masks, Disney will direct all profits raised from online sales to the humanitarian aid organisation, MedShare, up to $1 million from now until 30 September, 2020.

Available in small, medium and large sizes, these masks are both for the young and the young at heart.

Read more: What does science say about face masks?

They also follow the CDC’s current recommendations for non-surgical, non-industrial grade face masks, and can be regularly cleaned and re-used by following instructions available on Shop Disney.

Disney’s new line of cloth masks are just one part of its other charitable outreaches during the pandemic. The company has also donated upwards of 100,000 N95 masks to the states of New York, California and Florida, as well as Washington, D.C., as well 175,000 rain ponchos to hospitals in need of additional protective garments.

In a press conference on Thursday, prime minister Boris Johnson said face coverings will be “useful” as the country looks to move past government’s restrictions on movement to slow the coronavirus’s spread.

“What I think (the scientific advice body) Sage is saying, and what I certainly agree with, is that as part of coming out of the lockdown, I do think that face coverings will be useful both for epidemiological reasons but also for giving people confidence they can go back to work,” Johnson said.

His remarks seemed to run against past Public Health England advice, which said masks “play a very important role in clinical settings, such as hospitals, but there’s very little evidence of widespread benefit from their use outside of these clinical settings”.

Earlier this week, Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said her administration was recommending the public start wearing a covering in certain situations.