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I will not be surprised if mask usage becomes normalized in Western cultures after this, just as happened in Asian cultures after SARS.
by en-us 7y ago
I will not be surprised if mask usage becomes normalized in Western cultures after this, just as happened in Asian cultures after SARS.
- nerdponx 7y agoNot in the USA. The government is still telling people masks don't do anything.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- kzrdude 7y agoThe idea will probably lodge itself in our minds, but in practice there are no masks to buy, so we can't even start getting used to it.
- en-us 7y agoWe could improvise them though. I know in Hong Kong they have asked people to improvise using layered paper towels and tissues because those are readily available nonwoven fabrics. It isn't as good as the real thing, but done at the population level I expect it would lower the reproductive value of the virus and thus help flatten the curve.
- dominotw 7y ago> improvise using layered paper towels and tissues because those are readily available nonwoven fabrics. sorry is there a youtube video for this. Just want to make sure i don't make a mistake.
- en-us 7y agoYes there is: https://www.consumer.org.hk/ws_en/news/specials/2020/mask-diy-tips.html https://www.consumer.org.hk/ws_en/news/specials/2020/mask-di...
- xorfish 7y agoExperts devise do-it-yourself face masks to help people battle coronavirus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNjpH5lBZ8w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNjpH5lBZ8w
- yellowstuff 7y agoI imagine that just like my grandparents who lived through the Depression hoarded ketchup packets despite being financially secure, as soon as N95 masks are freely available I will keep a stash handy for the rest of my life, regardless of whether I ever face another pandemic, or official organizations advise against it.
- en-us 7y agoThat is exactly why I already had masks. I've kept a small stash since the Ebola epidemic.
- jerf 7y agoOne intriguing question that I can't answer today is whether or not this global pandemic is the exception, or whether 100+ years without a global pandemic is the exception. Not to mention, you look out over the next 50-100 years, you gotta be concerned about biological warfare. Having a population that knows how to handle a pandemic keeps the non-science-fiction viruses at bay pretty well.
- eridan2 7y agoBut we had influenza pandemics in 1957 and 1968, plus the swine flu in 2009...
- wbl 7y agoYou can make your own cloth mask.
- drcode 7y agoI don't know, people in the US seem to be pretty stubborn. I think people feel that being asked to wear a mask is somehow "un-American"
- jerf 7y ago"People in the US" isn't a useful category for thought on this matter. There are subcultures where I find the idea that they will ever wear masks routinely risible. There are subcultures where I could easily see it becoming absolutely de rigueur with social consequences for non-compliance. You and I probably have different ideas about what those subcultures are, but for this post it would simply suffice to say that there would be different reactions.
- drcode 7y agoI tried to give away cloth masks (not medical masks) to people in my area and nobody wanted one, and I live in a very liberal, highly educated part of the country. I'm hoping this attitude can be changed, I'm just pointing out that there seem to be some uniquely American psychological issues associated with mask wearing that need to be taken into account.
- jerf 7y agoWell... this is why I said "you and I probably have different ideas about what those subcultures are". With my priors, "liberals" not wanting to wear masks doesn't surprise me at all. Consider watching something like https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_the_moral_roots_of_liberals_and_conservatives https://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_the_moral_roots_of_... , and then ask yourself: Which groups would you expect to accept and even enforce mask wearing, and which will reject it?
- was8309 7y agoThanks for the link to the video. Wouldn't ultra conservatives wear masks because of 'Ingroup', 'Authority', 'Purity', and only when it becomes law? Wouldn't ultra liberals wear masks because of 'Harm', 'Fairness', as it becomes clear scientific consensus? Thanks
- champagneben 7y agoHow prevalent was mask wearing in Asian cultures before SARS?
- en-us 7y agoI read a paper on this last week but I can't find it at the moment. However I recall them polling people on mask usage, and pre-SARS it was single digits percentage, post-SARS it was 85-90%.
- lokedhs 7y agoDuring the pandemic, yes. Not so much after. I live in S.E. Asia and have been to a large number of countries in Asia, and I can't say I've seen extensive mask usage anywhere except for Japan. Of course, it's much more common than Europe or the US, but it's still in the single digit percentages. This was before the current pandemic of course. But eve today, in Singapore, I'd estimate 15% to 20%?
- dominotw 7y agoRight now people wearing masks are considered selfish people who are depriving medical staff of them. medical staff in usa are wearing trashbags for protection( even hilary clinton tweeted this picture).
- malandrew 7y agoStill not in Washington state. I'm routinely the only one wearing a simple surgical mask when I head to the grocery store, which I don't mind because people pro-actively avoid me because I guess they assume I'm infected instead of being precautious. Everyone should assume they are an asymptomatic carrier.