The COVID-19 mask has become a cultural icon across the world; it signifies a commitment to the social and collective good of society.
I and my younger brother were the only ones wearing masks on the condolence visit to our friend’s mother, when a man sitting nearby started coughing in front of us. The other one, who also came for the condolence fixed his nervous attention on the coughing man, but also on me and my brother’s masked faces.
As I tried to explain him how dangerous it could be for not to wear a mask, suddenly, his facial expression seemed to change into anger.
Sensing fear and hostility, and worried for the safety, we offered “Duaa” for deceased and got off towards the home back.
Before this epidemic no one around us thought about putting on a mask in public. But so early in the coronavirus pandemic, people in Pakistan were still unaccustomed to seeing masked faces. For many, masks signaled “disease,” as if the wearer had something to hide.
Health experts show serious concerns both at the sight of public places where people have crowded without masks, and at demonstrations, which are staged by the leaders, where protesters without masks have been jammed together.
What types of mask should ones wear?
Different masks offer different levels of protection. Surgical grade N95 masks which are limited in supply and costly too, offer the highest level of protection against Covid-19 infection, however, this types of masks have generally suggested for health workers or those at particularly high risk.
Health experts around the world not only recommend the masks for the people displaying COVID-19 symptoms such as coughing and sneezing, those starting to feel sick and “pre-symptomatic”, or caring for the sick, emphasising that masks must be disposed of properly, but, also suggests masks may be necessary at all times for everyone when in social settings.
As the public looks for more options, Dr Aijaz Ali, a senior consultant pediatrician and researcher based in Karachi, said cloth masks may be sufficient for the general public as they may found to filter 50 to 60 percent of “virus-sized particles and last for at least 3 hours.”
Masks are considered firs hand protective equipment.
Masks are believed to have some effectiveness at protecting the wearer, especially in crowded spaces, but are most effective at reducing the risks that the virus will be spread through coughing or talking.
Medical experts say they are no substitute for the other recommended measures such as wearing mask, social distancing, staying home when sick or exhibiting possible symptoms of the virus such as coughing and fever.
Mr. Jamal, a retired professor from a private college in Karachi said, “There’s a virus outside, so I wear a mask only to protect myself, whereas collective reasoning, in our society, is to say, ‘I wear a mask to protect others, is incomprehensible.” Professor added.
“When you put on a mask, you’re not inconveniencing others when you cough,” Mrs Fareed ul Islam, a newly converted Muslim said. “You’re showing others that you’re abiding by social etiquette, and so people feel reassured.”
A cultural icon around the globe.
As a protective measure, the COVID-19 mask has become a cultural icon across the world. It has become a marker of social responsibility and good citizenship. It represents the wearer’s compliance with public safety and communal well-being through exercising care for one’s self and others.
In SARS epidemic of 2003, “mask culture” was seen as fostering a sense of mutual obligation and civic duty. Similarly in our current pandemic, wearing a protective mask signifies a commitment to the social and collective good of society.
Celebrities motivational move against pandemic
Expressing solidarity and to motivating to the general public to curb coronavirus outbreak, celebrities have been quick to develop their own line of fashionable personal protective equipment. The posted their pictures in colourful masks dripping with matching sparkles. No word yet on whether those give them extra protection;
Media crews are not far behind for their own protection
As the world continues to battle COVID-19, media crews from all over the world are not so far behind to protect themselves. Reporters, News anchors and other media crews across the world shared their photos of wearing face masks and expressed concern about the fast-spreading virus.
The mass-wearing mobilization in the most countries reinforced what experts say is a crucial factor in fighting any epidemic. People simply learned to be obedient in critical moments.
The countries of the west are now requiring the wearing of face masks despite their concurrent bans on face coverings.
Niqab(covering face by Muslims’ women),was treated with hatred in the west, now it seems to be accepted because of ‘Face Mask” which are now seen as a social measure for protecting people across the globe. This made Muslims feel “victorious” during this ongoing pandemic.
In France, where a sense of individualism is stronger, everyone including government officials was long pessimistic about the adoption of mask-wearing against potential epidemics. In fact, so ingrained was the cultural resistance to masks that, as a security measure, France became in 2011 the first European nation to ban the public covering of the face, including with the Muslim veil.
After discouraging people from wearing face masks, France, like the United States, has begun urging its citizens to wear basic or homemade ones outside. And some parts of Europe are moving faster than the United States by requiring masks instead of simply recommending their use.
Even a small city in south of Paris, became the first municipality in France to require masks in public. Violators will face a fine of 38 euros, or $41. The southern city of Nice announced that it would make masks mandatory next week, and the Paris mayor said on Tuesday that two million reusable cloth masks would be distributed there.
In Belgium,a law passed in 2011 bans the wearing of clothing in the street that obscures one’s identity. Yet now, because of the coronavirus, masks are compulsory on public transportation and “strongly encouraged” in other places.
In Austria, face masks are now compulsory in shops and on public transportation, yet in 2017 a bill was passed prohibiting face coverings in public spaces. There are similar situations in Denmark, Bulgaria and certain parts of Italy, Spain and Germany.
Earlier in the March, the Czech Republic and the Slovakia were quicker to embrace face mask, they made mask-wearing mandatory, people across both countries mobilized by sewing masks at home, often giving them away to doctors, nurses and shop assistants or leaving them on their doors or gates to offer to passers-by. In Slovakia, television anchors and politicians took lead, wearing mask in gates to offer to passers-by. In Slovakia, television anchors and politicians took the lead, wearing masks in studios and outside.
In Japan, Mask-wearing has become such a part of daily life that it now plays a role in maintaining an overall feeling of being “reassured” in Japanese society. After people got used to masks, they continued to wear them against seasonal allergies or to protect one another from germs. Unlike in other Asian nations, where many wear masks against air pollution, mask-wearing became widespread despite the absence of immediate threats.
The rigid United States, where health experts have long warned a lack of social distancing and avoiding face mask could result in a second peak in the virus. According to data from John Hopkins University, nationally more than 1.9 million people have been infected with 112,000 deaths by the virus. After this, even US had to change its tune and issued directives to wear a cloth masks if can’t find a medical mask.
Though, there are sharp differences exist over wearing masks among the nations. But the current scenario of corona pandemic outbreak turned the general mind-set of the people who usually used to build lame excuses for wearing face masks.
With global anxiety on the rise concerning the spread of the corona virus, people across the globe are flocking to buy surgical masks and N95 respirator masks. According to WHO recommendations; Fabric masks should consist of “at least three layers of different material” in order to be effective. However, those aged over-60 and with underlying health risks should wear medical masks in areas where there is community transmission.
At the same time, the WHO stressed that face masks were just one of a range of tools that could be used to reduce the risk of transmission and that they should not give people a false sense of protection.