Question:
On Shabbos, can I bend the metal piece of a face mask that is made to fit over your nose and keep it in place? Is this a makeh bipatish issue?
Answer:
Bending metal on Shabbos is not inherently prohibited, however often bending it into the correct shape will be fixing. For example bending the teeth of a fork back into shape, or bending the temple of eyeglasses, or a needle that got bent, all of these cases involve fixing the item and prohibited. However thin strips of metal that are meant to bend and be adjusted, are not considered being fix when adjusted. Therefore there is no problem with adjusting the metal and bending or unbending the metal strip of a face mask on Shabbos because whether it is bent a little this way or the other it will not be considered broken, therefore the poskim say it is permitted.
Please see the following link https://dinonline.org/2020/06/11/bending-metal-on-shabbos-glasses-twist-ties-masks-and-staples/
Best wishes
