BBC Science Focus Magazine
Advertisement
But will we go on wearing masks when the immediate threat of the coronavirus has receded? I suspect not. Unless COVID-19 rears its ugly head again, I canât see those masks going anywhere other than the back of a drawer. This is a shame, because I suspect we will see a lot more flu around in six monthsâ time (last winter saw remarkably few cases) and wearing a mask could make a difference.
Wearing a mask has, unfortunately, become almost an ideological statement, and certainly a cultural one. One of the clear differences between countries that controlled the initial spread of the virus, like China, South Korea and Taiwan, and countries that didnât was the fact that in the former people were actively encouraged to wear masks outdoors and were happy to do so.