Symbolism plays a major role in human perception. During the current pandemic, face masks became the symbolic shield in the battle against the novel coronavirus, while waiting for the more sophisticated artillery, the vaccine. While scientists, slowly, unglamorously, and painstakingly reviewed the evidence, politics and propaganda hijacked the issue. Market forces, too, butted in with designer masks. Mask use or non-use became an issue for shaming, blaming, and stigmatising people.
Soon to follow were mask mandates and fines. Science was simply confined to the backstage. Mass mask use propaganda influenced people in almost every walk of life, making them substitute evidence with emotion. To date, there is no robust scientific evidence that clearly shows masks stop the transmission of respiratory viruses. Wherever and whenever trends of Covid-19 cases and deaths went down after mask…
