[esselle]

Tinp0tTaipan wrote:

True. What makes me chuckle in Hong Kong is people wearing masks in the street, where they’re not really close to anyone for any length of time, then going to a cafe, bar or restaurant and taking the mask off. Or when they pull it down to smoke, or talk on the phone.
The mask-wearing culture in HK is out of hand. It is reasonable to wear a mask if you have a cold but there’s no point in wearing one to protect yourself, not least because they lose effectiveness so quickly. Also, I have seen medical professionals argue that wearing a mask makes you touch your face more often and I can believe this, they are an annoyance.
There is zero point to wearing one on the MTR. Better to keep your hands in your pockets and don’t touch anything.
There’s all sorts of tales about people trying to steam clean paper masks and re-using them for days on end, thus increasing the risk of disease (not necessarily COVID-19).
What is working in HK is people taking advice on hand-washing, working from home and the border closure.

My sense is that the wearing of masks in Hong Kong really started in 2003 when SARS first hit, and then never really stopped afterwards.

Whilst I haven’t been there for a couple of years, I visited 4 or 5 times a year from 2003 until 2017, and it seemed then that the wearing of masks in public was widespread.

Has the wearing of masks increased significantly in recent weeks?

[IanFromHKG]

esselle wrote:

Tinp0tTaipan wrote:

True. What makes me chuckle in Hong Kong is people wearing masks in the street, where they’re not really close to anyone for any length of time, then going to a cafe, bar or restaurant and taking the mask off. Or when they pull it down to smoke, or talk on the phone.
The mask-wearing culture in HK is out of hand. It is reasonable to wear a mask if you have a cold but there’s no point in wearing one to protect yourself, not least because they lose effectiveness so quickly. Also, I have seen medical professionals argue that wearing a mask makes you touch your face more often and I can believe this, they are an annoyance.
There is zero point to wearing one on the MTR. Better to keep your hands in your pockets and don’t touch anything.
There’s all sorts of tales about people trying to steam clean paper masks and re-using them for days on end, thus increasing the risk of disease (not necessarily COVID-19).
What is working in HK is people taking advice on hand-washing, working from home and the border closure.

My sense is that the wearing of masks in Hong Kong really started in 2003 when SARS first hit, and then never really stopped afterwards.

Whilst I haven’t been there for a couple of years, I visited 4 or 5 times a year from 2003 until 2017, and it seemed then that the wearing of masks in public was widespread.

Has the wearing of masks increased significantly in recent weeks?

Yes. Massively.

[simeoncox]

I’m in Bangalore. I’m due to travel CMB-SIN-SYD in two weeks. All on-line outlets for masks ‘stock unavailable’.

(Hand gel is no substitute for soap. Hand-washing is the key, not applying chemicals. Disposable gloves are better.)

[Author]

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