World News: Covid Worries Keep Masks On in Asia --- Face coverings remain near universal, as U.S. drops rules; 'corona won't go extinct'

 

"TOKYO -- Chie Matsuda learned from a morning TV show here Wednesday that passengers on U.S. airplanes had just been allowed to take off their masks.

It was a moment of celebration for some Americans, but Ms. Matsuda didn't like the sound of it.

"I'd be uncomfortable if the person next to me on the plane was unmasked," said the 64-year-old retiree as she ate a sandwich outside a Tokyo shopping mall. "We haven't figured out yet how we could live with the coronavirus. At this phase, we'd better take a more conservative approach."

Pictures of maskless Americans packing sports stadiums, attending business meetings and now riding on airplanes look like they come from another planet for people in much of Asia, where masking is nearly universal and likely to stay that way for some time.

Japan in particular offers a counterpart to the U.S. trend: Mask requests are generally voluntary, yet compliance is widespread.

"I believe it's a product of peer pressure," said 22-year-old college student Ryo Takahashi, who was wearing a cloth mask Wednesday as he waited in line at a McDonald's restaurant. Mr. Takahashi said he wasn't worried much about getting infected because he is young and the current Omicron variant tends not to cause serious illness, but he said he was still wearing a mask so as not to stand out.

Major U.S. airlines quickly dropped the mask mandate after a federal judge in Florida on Monday said a federal mandate exceeded the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many people responded by removing their masks, some in midflight as news of the ruling spread.

Those scenes aren't likely to be repeated in East Asia soon. From Thailand to South Korea, either Japanese-style social pressure or government mandates have kept people masked.

In South Korea, where an Omicron wave has receded after peaking in March at a level that exceeded the worst U.S. outbreak, officials have lifted restrictions on the size of gatherings and business operating hours. But a mask mandate remains.

Jeon Hae-cheol, minister of interior and safety, said Wednesday that the mandate might be lifted for outdoor settings in May. Officials said masks will have to be worn indoors for a considerable time. "The importance of mask-wearing remains formidable," Mr. Jeon said.

Hong Kong is set to relax social-distancing rules Thursday after its own Omicron wave eased, but it too is keeping its mask mandate in public places -- even for those exercising outdoors. Violators are subject to a fine that is equivalent to more than $600.

In Japan, mask-wearing was reasonably common even before Covid-19 when people had colds or allergies.

Toshihiro Tajima, a 63-year-old engineer, said he planned to wear a mask for the rest of his life. "Given my age, I'm concerned, because corona won't go extinct," he said.

Infection levels in Japan, South Korea and some other parts of Asia remain higher than in the U.S. as the Omicron BA.2 subvariant continues spreading.

Shops, restaurants and event halls in Japan ask visitors to keep their face coverings on except when they are eating. At school, students wear masks most of the time and eat lunch quietly. Signs are ubiquitous in train stations.

A survey in March by Planet Inc., a Tokyo data-services company, found that more than a third of respondents intended to keep wearing a mask all the time even after the coronavirus is under control, while half said they would wear a mask sometimes.

After the U.S. ruling, Japanese airlines said they would continue asking passengers on both domestic and international flights to wear face coverings onboard and at airports.

Ms. Matsuda, the Tokyo retiree, said she was thinking of flying to Spain and Portugal after the pandemic dies down. After watching the news Wednesday, she said she might avoid U.S. carriers." [1]

 

Florida federal judge makes decisions on health of hundreds of millions of people? Isn’t that an angry joke?

 

1. World News: Covid Worries Keep Masks On in Asia --- Face coverings remain near universal, as U.S. drops rules; 'corona won't go extinct'
Inada, Miho.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 21 Apr 2022: A.16.