Aubrey Juden, left, asks Sydney Welling, a junior in English and Music, a multiple-choice question about face masks and COVID on the University of Montana campus Wednesday. Juden is a member of Griz Health, a group of students who talk to their peers and promote best practices for COVID safety and do temperature and symptom checks.
“Do you want to get your temperature checked?” asked Aubrey Juden, a senior at the University of Montana, as she stood outside the University Center on campus, clipboard in hand.
“Sure,” the passerby student said, as he stopped and bowed forward.
“97.6. You’re good to go!” Juden exclaimed, holding the contactless thermometer an inch or two from the man’s forehead to get the reading. The fever-free man said, “Great, thanks!” and continued on his way.
A few minutes later, two young women approached.
“Hey, do you guys want to answer some trivia for a prize?” Juden asked the students, who nodded and paused. Juden gave the students a multiple choice question.
“So of the following masks, which is the least likely to prevent COVID? A buff or gaiter, a surgical mask, a cloth mask, or you can say they’re all helpful.”
“The gaiter?” one of the students shyly answered.
“The gaiter is correct!” Juden said. But the girls weren’t sure as to why the buff-style mask is least effective.
“The gaiter actually breaks up particles and makes them smaller,” Juden said, adding because of this, they’re able to exit and spread farther.
The students smiled and picked their prizes for answering correctly — a lanyard and a snack size bag of sour patch kids.