As I've already said, masks were common in this part of the world long before covid and will still be as common long after covid.
That’s because Asians, especially in Japan, China and Taiwan, have worn masks for a host of cultural and environmental reasons, including non-medical ones, since at least the 1950s.
Japanese wear masks when feeling sick as a courtesy to stop any sneezes from landing on other people. Japanese women mask their faces on days when they don’t have time to put on makeup. Philippine motorcycle riders wear masks to deflect vehicular exhausts in heavy traffic. In Taiwan, citizens say masks keep their faces warm in the winter and offer a sense of protection from air pollution, including any airborne germs.
You only have to look around Thailand. Workers wear 'full head' masks (balaclavas) to protect themselves from the sun. There are a host of reasons to wear a mask in certain situations.In the streets of Taipei almost every second person wears a mask and on public transit nine in 10 if not more.
Hospitals and some schools in Taiwan require that anyone who enters wear a mask.
). Was the whole vaccination thing pointless? A scam? Are the (by choice not enforced) mask wearers the real 'tin-foil hat guys' amongst us?
