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Comment by en-us | Hacker News Reader

I will not be surprised if mask usage becomes normalized in Western cultures after this, just as happened in Asian cultures after SARS.

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The 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.

I 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.

One 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.

But we had influenza pandemics in 1957 and 1968, plus the swine flu in 2009...

That is exactly why I already had masks. I've kept a small stash since the Ebola epidemic.

We 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.

> 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.

Yes there is: https://www.consumer.org.hk/ws_en/news/specials/2020/mask-di...

Experts devise do-it-yourself face masks to help people battle coronavirus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNjpH5lBZ8w

You can make your own cloth mask.

Not in the USA. The government is still telling people masks don't do anything.

Right 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).

How prevalent was mask wearing in Asian cultures before SARS?

I 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%.

During 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%?

I 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"

It’s not about being “un-American”, which is ridiculous just for the mere fact that not wearing masks in public is a western country thing, not just an American thing. The reason it’s not culturally acceptable is because, in western countries, wearing a mask in public is like wearing a big “warning: I’m toxic” sign, precisely because we haven’t had to deal with these fucked up super viruses that Asian countries are used to.

You have a point on the "West" thing, however Austria, Chzech republic, and UK have already instituted mandatory mask use in some circumstances.

So it took a government mandate, and then only in "some circumstances." Not exactly indicative of a cultural shift just yet.

At this point you might actually find a good number of people, even in the US, who would wear face masks without being forced to, assuming we could actually get our hands on them.

Hope so.

"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.

I 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.

There have been doctors in the US in TV, articles, etc that have been recommending people not to wear masks. Doctors who work/worked for CDC, not just random doctors. Some say it's because masks don't work. Some say don't because Americans don't know how to wear masks properly. There have even been doctors saying masks will make spreading/getting infection easier.

People are probably just following their advice and once the advice switches, they will probably follow that advice too.

I would wear a mask I bought from a reputable vendor. I would not wear a mask given out on the street by someone I never met. Maybe it's a matter of trust and not attitude or education.

Just launder the mask.

I live in Austin and people are wearing masks here.

Well... 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_... , and then ask yourself: Which groups would you expect to accept and even enforce mask wearing, and which will reject it?

Thanks 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

Still 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.

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