Why Wearing a Face Mask Is Encouraged in Asia, but Shunned in the U.S.

Cheryl Man is usually the only one wearing a face mask on her New York City subway train. She notices this, but other people on the train notice, too. Usually she just gets odd stares from other commuters. But on Tuesday morning, when she was walking to school, a group of teens jeered at her and coughed in her direction. “I felt very humiliated and misunderstood,” says Man, a 20-year-old student and research assistant who is ethnically Chinese. Man also feels the stigma at her workplace, where she keeps her mask on. None of her colleagues wear a face mask, and some of them have asked her if she is sick. “Why do they think it’s about me? It’s a civic duty,” she says. “If I have a mask on, and if—touch wood—I’m infected, I could cut the chain off where I am. That could save a lot of people.” That’s what health experts in Hong Kong, where Man was born and raised, say, and it’s advice she trusts. Nearly everyone on Hong Kong’s streets, trains and buses has been wearing a mask for weeks—since news emerged of mysterious viral pneumonia in Wuhan, China that was later identified and named COVID-19. The Hong Kong government and leading health experts also recommend wearing masks as a way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which the WHO declared a global pandemic on Wednesday. Read more: Coronavirus May Disproportionately Hurt the Poor—And That’s Bad for Everyone Paul Ye...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 onetime overnight Source Type: news