Just days after kissing his fiancée Ana de Arma through the protective gear, Ben Affleck was seen raising his face mask to smoke a cigarette.

The actor was photographed enjoying a stroll with new girlfriend Ana earlier this month in California, packing on the PDA despite the masks.

And now, the Way Back actor put his mask over his nose to smoke.

He has been wearing a mask due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic
Credit: BackGrid

The CDC suggested earlier this month that individuals wear face masks that cover their nose and mouth when out in public to avoid the transmission of the coronavirus. Affleck, on the other hand, didn’t let his face mask get in the way of a smoke break.

As the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, epidemic continues to overwhelm America’s health-care workers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its guidelines earlier this month to encourage citizens to do their part in stopping the spread, which now includes covering your face with some type of cloth covering when you leave the safety of your home to restock on essential goods.

We’re not sure whether this is totally appropriate, but it certainly captures the present mood that many of us are experiencing during lockdown.

As the world seeks to adopt social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the 47-year-old actor has been photographed routinely with his new girlfriend, Ana de Armas, donning masks while going for walks around town.

He was previously caught kissing girlfriend Ana through the protective gear
Credit: Rex Features

For the occasion, the celebrity wore a T-shirt with burgundy sleeves, black leggings, and a huge black holdall.

Sure enough, Affleck memes were quickly circulating on Twitter, with many praising the numerous faces the Oscar winner has given us and the paparazzi over the years.

Others dragged him brutally for his actions.

Exhaling smoke in public, in particular, may be dangerous because masks are designed to protect the people surrounding the person wearing them, not the person wearing them. The CDC just recently changed its advice “in light of new evidence” revealing that “a significant portion” of persons infected with the novel virus are either asymptomatic or presymptomatic, meaning they can spread the virus to others before developing symptoms themselves.

Ben and Ana were originally linked earlier this month after they were both sighted in Cuba, where the 31-year-old beauty was born.

Ben, who divorced Jennifer Garner in 2015, and Ana were spotted having fun in a little village near Havana, according to a fan.

Although Affleck isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, you can’t say he doesn’t know how to convey agony.

However, it’s unclear from the photographs if he smoked while staying six feet away from everyone, which experts say is the minimum safe distance to avoid infecting others. As a consequence, the smoking break may not have been dangerous to others, just a little careless.