Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3080207/coronavirus-and-face-masks-numbers-show-east-has-something-teach
Comment/ Letters

Coronavirus and face masks: numbers show the East has something to teach the West

  • The lower death rate and fatality in East Asia and even in Western countries that made mask wearing compulsory should encourage people to overcome their antipathy towards face coverings
People wearing masks stroll under cherry blossoms at Ueno Park in Tokyo on March 22. Mask wearing in Japan became common after the 2011 earthquake, which caused a meltdown at a nuclear power plant, prompting fears about radioactive isotopes in the air. Photo: EPA-EFE

Comparing Eastern societies where mask use is fairly common, including South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan, with Western nations, such as the US, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, shows that there are significant differences in number of confirmed Covid-19 virus cases and the fatality rate.

The confirmed case rate for the East’s sample per 100,000 is only 0.01 per cent, but for the West, it is 1.13 per cent, which is 13 times higher. The East sample’s fatality rate also is only 0.0001 per cent while the West’s is 0.008 per cent.

The ratio of confirmed cases to death in the East is 1.73 per cent while that of the West is 6.22 per cent. When we include China in the East sample, the result is almost the same for the confirmed case and fatality rate; the confirmed case-to-death ratio is an exception.

All other factors remaining equal, the differences in these rates can be accounted for by the practice of wearing masks, even when social distancing and handwashing are controlled for. Thus, wearing masks plays a significant role in containing the spread of Covid-19.

To further support this finding, if we compare the Western sample with another Western country, the Czech Republic, where wearing masks in public is mandatory, the same pattern can be found. Again, masks matter.

In East Asian countries, wearing masks has long been a common practice and it has shown to be effective in combating Covid-19. On the other hand, Western health experts have had mixed feelings on the efficacy of face masks: confusion over whether masks are helpful or not in preventing Covid-19 continued to abound until recently. However, two weeks ago, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention finally reversed its previous guidance and recommended people wear “non-surgical cloth face coverings” in public.

Changing deep-seated cultural resistance to wearing masks in the West will be very difficult, but people must consider wearing them for their own sake and as a collective responsibility to reduce disease transmission, even if in the very short term.

After all, the current East Asian culture of wearing masks is not a long-held tradition but rather a recent development. In Japan, mask wearing became popular after the 2011 earthquake and nuclear plant crisis. Also, people in East Asia began to wear masks to protect themselves from micro-dust and other viruses. Mask wearing should not be seen only as a culture, but as part of our responsibility towards ourselves, our loved ones and others.  

Jaehoon Rhee, director general, Gyeongbuk Technopark Foundation; professor, Yeungnam University, South Korea