In the West, we are taught to only wear masks if we are sick. But this is an incomplete perspective that endangers our society, and may lead to racism against Asians in our community.

To mask, or not to mask?

As a Canadian who used to live in South Korea, I’m conflicted on this topic.

I want to have faith in Canada’s healthcare experts, who are telling us not to wear a mask, unless you are sick or work in healthcare.

But I am fully aware people on the other side of the world are being taught the opposite. In most East Asian cultures, you must wear a mask during a pandemic, even if you don’t appear sick. It is seen as the duty of every responsible citizen.

Often times we hear this shrugged away as a “cultural difference”. But this is not some trivial difference, where different opinions are okay. It’s the question of how to effectively use medical equipment during a pandemic. And it needs to be investigated critically, or all our lives are at risk.

The East Asian perspective didn’t come out of thin air. It’s backed by experts in the field, such as Professor Kim Woo-Joo, who teaches Infectious Disease at Korean University Guro Hospital in Seoul.

Dr. Kim Woo-Joo has 30 years experience working with viruses, and worked with Korea’s emergency teams during SARS and MERS. When asked if wearing a mask helps, he said:

Of course it does. Why else would doctors in hospitals wear masks? They wear them because they prevent infection. During SARS and MERS outbreaks, masks were proven to work…. if you look at WHO’s recommendations, they don’t encourage normal people to wear masks... that’s what they say, which I think is problematic. Masks have been proven to prevent infection.

Korea’s healthcare consistently ranks near the top of world rankings for quality. When their medical experts are saying masks work… shouldn’t we at least revisit the issue with an open mind?

In recent weeks, I’ve seen more “stop buying masks” articles than I can count. But they only really ever have three arguments:

1.Stop buying masks, because you will touch your face and get sick.

2. Stop buying masks, because only sick people need them.

3. Stop buying masks, because we are running out.

This is, in my opinion, very dangerous misinformation. It leaves us all less prepared during a pandemic, and negatively affects Asians in our communities. I’ll get back to each of these points later on.

But for now, let’s break down each argument piece by piece. Because when you take a closer look, the arguments against wearing a mask make no sense.

1. “You touch your face more if you wear a mask”

The notion that we’ll touch our faces more if we wear makes has been made by a number of articles, including: 1, 2, 3. And it’s nonsense.

Someone who is new to wearing a face mask might touch their face to re-adjust it. But this is an education problem, not a mask problem. Someone who is new to using escalators might fall and hit their face. Our health experts should be teaching people how to use technology effectively.

When used effectively, a mask is actually a safe-guard against touching your face. A study from Australia found that students touch their face as much as 23 times per hour. But when you wear a mask, it serves as a continually reminder not to touch your face.

Education is needed, not fear.

2. “Only sick people need a mask”

The most common anti-mask argument of all. I’ve seen this argument made by articles such as: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and there are no doubt countless more.

Sounds great in principle, right? If all the sick people wear masks and all the healthy people don’t, we are all protected from that nasty virus.

But there’s a big problem…

Carriers of COVID-19 can be symptomatic or asymptomatic.

Simply put, this means that you can be sick and you don’t know it. If you don’t know that you are sick, you don’t know to self-isolate. And if you don’t know to self-isolate, you could infect others.

Consider the case of Vò, a small town in the north of Italy. Faced with an outbreak, the town of Vò took an extraordinary step. They tested each and every one of its 3,300 of inhabitants. Vò found about three percent of its population to be infected. But only half were showing symptoms.

This is a big part of why the virus is proving to be so difficult to contain. We don’t know who is sick and who is healthy. With limited testing capabilities, it doesn’t appear this is going to change anytime soon.

And so we have three options:

No One Wears a Mask Every Visibly Sick Person Wears a Mask Everyone Wears a Mask

Hopefully we can all agree that option 1 is a horrible idea. Who would want visibly sick people coughing everywhere during a pandemic?

But what about option 2? It’s our society’s current approach. But if half the sick people don’t show symptoms… then option 2 is halfway to the horrible idea that is option 1! The town of Vò offers one of the only clear samples of testing an entire region of people. And it has shown 50% asymptomatic cases.

The logical choice in this scenario is Option 3: everyone wears a mask.

This is the approach taken by most Asian cultures. And of course it’s the strategy taken by China and Korea — the two countries that have shown the most progress containing large outbreaks of COVID-19.

3. “We’re running out of masks”

I’ve had to defend my choice to wear a mask to a number of friends already. And after making it past face-touching and effectiveness, it will usually take a change in tone. The discussion will turn to: “But we’re running out of masks!”

Paradoxically, some experts are even telling us to stop buying masks, while also saying masks don’t work.

Not exactly a calm and measured voice of reason, is it?

If masks aren’t effective, they aren’t effective. But don’t tell us they don’t work, and that you need them. This is confusing and takes away credibility.

The presence of asymptomatic cases is proven. So we should all be able to admit, if nothing else, they are a good safe-guard during uncertain times. The problem then, is simply one of supply and demand.

Which raises a number of important questions:

If China can supply masks for 1.4 billion people, how is the U.S.A. and Canada running out after only two weeks of a serious outbreak?

Where is our emergency stockpile of masks?

What actions were taken over the past 2 months to increase supply?

And why are we blaming lack of supply on individuals wearing masks, instead of the misinformation that stigmatized them in the first place?

This argument against wearing masks is basically blaming individuals for our healthcare system’s lack of preparation. Are you trying to tell me that the 10-pack of masks I bought at the local pharmacy is the same place hospitals get their masks?

Imagine if you buy a new car. You did your research and are feeling happy with the purchase. And then one day, a leading government official tweets:

Seriously people- STOP BUYING CARS! They are NOT an effective mode of road transport, and if transportation industries can’t get them, it puts them and our communities at risk!

You would probably be wondering what the hell is going on. It’s not fair to blame consumers for a government’s lack of preparation. The supply chain must be separate. Especially when we’re talking about something as essential as staying protected during a pandemic.

If we are truly short on masks for healthcare workers, then it’s a national disgrace. And the media needs to make this message loud and clear, so the population understands that and can let hospitals restock.

But by mixing the message with lies about effectiveness, and ignoring asymptomatic cases altogether, our media is causing confusion and panic.

Wearing a Mask is Not a Crime

Just a few days ago, I was walking down the streets of Montreal wearing a blue face mask. As I walked by an older woman, she pointed at me and called something out. I was wearing noise cancelling headphones, so I didn’t hear her. But I got the message.

Recently, a lot of mask-wearers have been “getting the message”. Stories of verbal and physical attacks against Asians wearing face masks seem to be spreading as quickly as the virus itself.

Exhibit A: The woman on the New York subway who got chased, assaulted, and called “diseased”.

Exhibit B: The pregnant woman in Vancouver who got told to “go back to China”.

Exhibit C: The woman who was kicked out of a supermarket in Toronto for no reason other than wearing a mask.

Since I’m a white guy, I can keep my headphones on and keep walking when abuse is thrown my way. But Asian members of society do not have this privilege. They need to be on alert for the next asshole who wants to attack them for trying to stay safe during a pandemic.

Why is this happening? It is just the racists crawling out of the shadows?

Could be. But I suspect something deeper is happening. I believe the narrative sent by Western media that is contributing to all this.

Consider the core message our media is sending:

Don’t wear a mask if you aren’t sick

Stop buying masks, the hospitals need them

And so the average Canadian or American, trying to stay informed about COVID-19, hears this message repeated over and over by news media. Over and over by health officials. Over and over by members of government.

And accepting this message, this person sees someone wearing a face mask and must assume that they are:

Sick, and endangering everyone by being in public Wasting valuable medical supplies

You see, our one-sided coverage of face masks is providing no valid reason to be wearing one in public. And so the attacker might feel they are on the side of justice. Those committing hate crimes may feel they are simply “informed”, and confronting a monster who has no regard for society.

Remember the example of the grocery staff in Toronto who kicked that woman out of the supermarket? They might think they are doing the right thing. After all, everyone from Vice President Pence to the U.S. Surgeon General has sent the message that wearing masks is wrong.

In my own city, Montreal, two Koreans were stabbed in hate crimes this month. Maybe that attacker thought he was on the side of justice, too…