Big Smile, No Teeth: The Anti-Mask League vs common sense

There are ‘anti-maskers’ in the United States who are upset that their inalienable right to walk around unmasked (and possibly spread Covid-19 to others) is being curtailed. — AFP/April 18,2020

As the world starts to open up again after the initial wave of Covid-19-sparked lockdowns, most countries and experts agree about one thing: Wear a mask.

Sure, there are hold outs. President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has spoken out against masks and US President Donald Trump famously didn’t wear a mask to a mask factory (even after he was asked to), but aside from those two mavericks (sarcasm font needed here), the world is in mask-wearing mode. And with good reason.

Fighting Covid-19 is a learning process and though our knowledge isn’t perfect at this moment – the elderly and immunocompromised aside, we still don’t know why some people get super sick while others are largely asymptomatic – but strict and proper mask-wearing has been found to stop the spread of the virus.

Countries where SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) made mask-wearing a quick reflex, such as Taiwan, have had little to no interruption to their day-to-day life as Covid-19 cases have remained low.