Hong Kong residents dreamed of the day they would no longer have to wear masks in public, but feared it would never dawn. There was relief when the requirement was lifted last week, after two years and seven months during which masks appeared to be permanently attached to people’s faces. The move effectively marks the end of the city’s measures to combat the pandemic, which have been among the strictest and longest lasting in the world. But it will take time for the city to adapt to the idea of not wearing masks. Most residents have continued to mask-up when stepping out in the days since the rule was removed. Masks were widely worn long before the requirement was imposed on July 28, 2020. Almost everyone was doing so at the time of the Wuhan outbreak, before Hong Kong had even recorded its first case of Covid-19. People didn’t need to be told to wear masks or that they helped guard against infection. At the time the requirement was introduced, most parts of the world were imposing various rules on masks. Even Donald Trump, famous for resisting and apparently mocking them, wore one in public earlier that month. But we didn’t think the pandemic would last so long. Hongkongers freshen up with lipstick, spa days after axing Covid mask mandate The mask mandate allowed for very few exceptions. Children under two-years-old were exempt. People who breached the rule faced a HK$5,000 (US$637) fine, unless they could show they had a reasonable excuse for doing so. Exercise was not exempted. That ridiculous rule, conflicting with World Health Organization advice, was quickly lifted but reintroduced for a period last year when cases began to soar. May Hong Kong never again force people to go running or play team sports while trying to breathe through a mask. Some residents wore masks even when they didn’t need to. I saw distant lone hikers in country parks masked-up, with no one else in sight. Some motorists wore masks even when driving alone. It is not surprising many Hong Kong people are finding it difficult to adjust to the idea of not wearing a mask in public. The social conditioning runs deep. When I arrived in the UK in August, I gladly embraced the total lack of Covid-19 restrictions and couldn’t wait to remove my mask. But, for a while, I found myself reaching for one every time I stepped out of the door. I felt naked without it in crowded places and was tempted to put it back on again as soon as someone coughed. The compulsion soon wore off. Hong Kong might see 90 per cent of mask shops close, after mandate ends I feel sorry for the children who are only now seeing the faces of their classmates and teachers for the first time. The city allowed the abnormal to become normal. No wonder there has been an increased need for speech therapy. Some children are understandably anxious about removing their masks. We do not yet know what the long-term impact of compulsory mask-wearing will be. Hong Kong also had the dubious distinction of being probably the only place in the world to have laws simultaneously banning and requiring the wearing of masks. A restriction on face-coverings at protests was introduced, under colonial-era emergency legislation, during civil unrest in 2019. The top court later upheld the law, but noted that by that time, amid the pandemic, almost everyone was wearing masks. The “emergency” leading to the mask ban for protests evaporated long ago. The law should be scrapped. Masks, whether worn by protesters or required during the pandemic, have become a symbol for Hong Kong’s troubles in recent years. While it may be prudent for health reasons to continue wearing them at times, the city needs to collectively move on from the mandatory mask-wearing era. Let us hope the removal of masks will have a broader meaning, ushering in a happier time when people can be seen smiling and are able to speak freely. Ditching the masks should, literally and figuratively, give Hong Kong more room to breathe.