Question: There are reports that men with beards may have problems using face masks effectively or getting hooked up to a ventilator correctly. Given the danger posed by the COVID-19 virus, should Jewish men shave their beards before they fall ill?

Answer: 
Anesthesiologist here: Beards aren't a problem for a ventilator.
They make my job harder when I have to mask ventilate someone before putting in a breathing tube, but since we've stopped mask ventilating covid-19 patients, it doesn't matter.

A beard will make it impossible for a traditional N95 respirator to fit properly, which will preclude you from protecting yourself (or other people) from breathing in the virus.

A year ago, I'd recommend buying a PAPR (Powered Air Purifying Respirator) which is the space hood you've seen, and which works just as well as an N95 but would let you keep the beard. Now that you can't find one available to buy, if you want to wear an N95 respirator mask properly, trim the beard.

Health care facilities fit test all employees yearly to make sure we can wear N95 respirator masks properly.

I have colleagues who have trimmed beards because, while in years past we could avoid having them work with patients with things like tuberculosis, this year, everyone is at risk of covid-19.

(This doesn't answer the question, but does clarify that a beard isn't a problem at all for being on a ventilator. The goal, of course, is to avoid needing the ventilator in the first place...)
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner in his new pamphlet *Keser Yitnu Lecha* (COVID-19 in Haskafa and Halacha) was asked as to whether a paramedic who has an order from his employer to shave his beard should do so in order to be able to continue his work. He ruled that he must as a protocol of "*Venishmartem*".

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