Patient follows doctor's orders but fails to clear the air

Donning a mask in full glare of the public immediately made one significant difference.

Unfortunately, it had little to do with helping me breathe more easily.

In short, I felt enormously self-conscious.

I stood for 20 minutes at 3.40pm outside the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay, just 30 metres from the roadside monitoring station, with and without my six-ply mask.

Passers-by were clearly affected by the air as they hurried past covering their noses with their hands.

I was the only one wearing a mask and this made me feel embarrassed and faintly ridiculous.