Australia’s embrace of face masks uncovers entrepreneurial spirit

After the government’s shift in attitude about their effectiveness as the Covid-19 pandemic continues, demand is surging – and entrepreneurs are stepping up

Many share a common experience or family history in Asia, where face coverings are seen as a common-sense measure to help halt the spread of disease

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Haruka Nishiyama sells 20 of her handmade face masks every day. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:00am, 24 Jul 2020Updated: 8:50am, 25 Jul 2020

For years, Haruka Nishiyama – a self-employed artist in Melbourne, Australia – made her living selling handcrafted items of clothing, jewellery and bags. These days, Nishiyama, who is originally from Japan, can hardly keep up with orders for reusable face masks that are suddenly in high demand to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

“I would rather make something people need, and I thought masks with my colourful style would be uplifting and help people to cheer up,” said Nishiyama, who moved to Australia from Mie prefecture about seven years ago. “That was why I started it.”

Nishiyama is among the entrepreneurs stepping up to meet a huge surge in demand for masks in Australia following a sudden shift in official guidance and attitudes about their effectiveness. Like Nishiyama, many share a common experience or family history in East Asia where mask-wearing has long been seen as a common sense measure to help halt the spread of disease.

From a trickle of orders before this week, Nishiyama, who works by herself, now sells about 20 masks priced at A$20 (US$14) apiece each day.

“It was very obvious that masks would be in high demand since the beginning of [Covid-19], but I didn’t want to take advantage of this unfortunate situation at first,” Nishiyama said, adding that she donates 20 per cent of her sales to charity. “I took a very long time to think about why I would do it, and how I would do it.”

Like many Western countries, Australia was slow to embrace face coverings, and authorities until recently insisted they had little benefit for most people. Masks also carried a stigma following reports of assaults and incidents of verbal abuse against Asians who covered their face while out in public.

Zara Lim recently received 200 orders for her face masks in a single day. Photo: Handout

But a massive resurgence of cases in Melbourne and the surrounding state of Victoria since the start of July has dramatically shifted perceptions. After apparently having the virus largely under control, Victoria has seen infections surge more than threefold since July 1 to more than 7,200 cases.