Are Other Countries as Reluctant as the U.S.?
By Suchi Patel
It seems as though whenever you log into Twitter or turn on the news, you hear yet another person enter Target, refusing to wear a mask. Despite the signs taped to the doors and everyone in their vicinity strapped in PPE, the message will fail to go through to them.
“Just put on a mask, it’s not that hard” or “Wearing a mask is NOT a political statement” have now become common posts for celebrities on their social media accounts.
“America is built on its rights.” The dissenters will use it as reasoning, framing their rebellion as a frustration of mandates instead of a lack of care for others.
The question is: why are we being so stubborn?
Los Angeles Times
To begin understanding, we need to look back on our history. Dating back to 1918, the U.S. experienced a ravaging influenza epidemic. With nowhere near the technology and vaccinations we have today, citizens complied to mask wearing and social distancing in the name of civic duty.
However, this changed when the mandatory ordinances were passed to mandate wearing a mask. People did not like feeling forced to wear one.
It can’t just be the U.S. that is dealing with this rebellion, can it? Surely, other countries have the same difficulty with getting citizens to comply. The pandemic claiming thousands of lives everyday speaks for itself.
According to a YouGov survey taken on June 24, 2020, nearly one in ten American people report they never wear a mask.
This is alarming, as 10% of America is nearly 33 million people.
Following suit, a survey taken in the UK by YouGov two weeks before shows that 37% of Britons had not worn a mask outside their homes in the seven preceding days. They listed many reasons including: they don’t feel the need to, they have not gone to crowded places, or they have been practicing social distancing. 22% of the Britons that reported to have not worn masks simply reasoned that it was not mandatory.
While it may be comforting to know that the US is not alone, it has become disheartening to see how far the nation has fallen behind countries that had much better reception to the pandemic in terms of controlling the spread.
Case in point, many East Asian countries have shown overwhelming compliance in wearing a mask. Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Thailand have shown great majorities of citizens wearing face masks to public places, and as a result, have largely controlled the spread of the coronavirus.
Many other nations have experienced a quick spike in public mask wearing soon into the pandemic. For example, Singapore had 21% of its citizens wearing a mask on March 13, yet by April 24, it had nearly 90% of its population wearing a mask in public places. Other countries also reacted rapidly with mask wearing, including Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Among the nations that have experienced a much slower growth in mask wearing are the UK, France, and the U.S.
France was at 22% on March 22, taking about two months to reach 79% on May 27th. The U.K. has also experienced slow growth in the same timeframe, from 2% to 21%. March 30, the U.S. was at 17% of citizens wearing a mask in public places, stretching out until June 22 to pass just above 70%. Although these countries have been less drastically hit than the U.S. by the pandemic, this still goes to show that many citizens of these nations have taken less precaution against the virus.
Now why is it that some of the most advanced countries in the world are struggling so hard to get their citizens to wear a mask?
“America is built on its rights” cannot be the reasoning of these other countries as well.
America has deep rooted political polarization that has interfered in citizens wearing a mask. Generally speaking, conservatives have shown more opposition to both mask-wearing and other precautions, as opposed to liberals. About 53% of Republicans polled said they wore a mask at all times outside, while 76% of Democrats polled said they wore a mask at all times. Still, making a political statement cannot be the only factor that plays into someone risking their health and the health of others.
With further investigation, it seems that the UK, France, and the U.S. also polled quite low in terms of government handling. By June 26th, 38% of French citizens think the government handled coronavirus issues well, along with the U.S. at 38% and the UK at 43% as of last week.
Overall, many of the Asian countries previously listed have ranked higher than all three of these nations.
Ultimately, this has a lot to say about how important a government’s image is to its people.
While correlation does not prove causation, this can be a very influential factor in a citizen’s compliance to government guidelines. Taiwan is a prime example of this: a government that has gained respect and trust of its people and can now reap the benefits of that.
Having respect for how the government handles novel issues such as this pandemic can garner the obedience of its citizens.
Nevertheless, China bodes a perfect example for a country that lost trust as the brink of the pandemic, yet was able to regain it from its citizens and nations around the world.
As trust in the government is a likely source of obedience of citizens, this may be the path the U.S. government and other struggling countries may need to help their citizens take proper precaution.
There may be hope for us yet.
The topic was overall very interesting, it had evidence backed with trusted sources that furthered the main idea of the post. The ways in which the United States compared to other countries in Asia, in terms of the citizens’ compliance with wearing a mask, was quite interesting to see. I liked how the post focused on fact rather than speculation. The post furthered my education on how some of Europe was responding to the pandemic, in regards to mask wearing. Such as, how the United Kingdom’s citizens were like that of U.S. citizens where a lot of people are choosing not to wear masks. I found it most interesting that China was able to keep the virus under relative control despite a deep rooted distrust in the government as compared to Taiwan that has a more trusted government.
I think you bring up a really interesting perspective on this issue. I had never considered that how successful a government was in handling the COVID-19 pandemic would influence whether or not citizens chose to wear a mask. Nevertheless, this does make a lot of sense.
However, as I was reading, I began to wonder if the idea of distrust in the government, leading to citizens not wearing masks, is playing out differently in the United States. As you touched on, polls have shown that a person’s opinion on masks is often linked to their party affiliation and view of the President, yet it is those with the greatest trust in the President and his actions who are most likely not to be wearing a mask. With that said, not all Democrats wear masks, and not all Republicans do not, but it raises the question: is the choice not to wear masks in America mainly resulting from President Trump’s actions or the mistrust in the government?
In this article, there is the idea that people’s opinions about the government affects people’s willingness to follow the government regulations. This relationship is parallel to that of the relationship between a disobedient child and a parent. The citizens, or in this case the child, do not want to follow the directions of the parent, or the government, because they do not want to be controlled even if the measures are taken to ensure safety. If America wants the people to change their view on government it is important to look to other countries who have been able to successfully create good relationships with their people. This article points out the government in Taiwan which has been able to gain the respect of the people. One reason being that they created a task force and began restrictions before there were even 20 cases in their country. These were largely followed by the people because the people trust the government. Would a system of trust and respect gained by the government work in America? Is it possible for the American government to create a relationship with the people like the relationship between the Taiwanese government and its people?
In the United States, federalism is the fight between national and state governments dating back to the Civil War, this concept forces the American people to follow their own local and state laws. An example being how people comply with their local speed limits however there is no national speed limit that everyone in this country must follow. These local laws still give citizens their personal freedoms making many of them antithetical to laws or regulations suggested by the national government. As for many of the Asian countries they were hit hard by the SARS outbreak in 2002 making many of their citizens accustomed to wearing face masks then and now once again for the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has Asian countries wore masks for the SARS outbreak they have been wearing them since 1950s as a safeguard for air pollution.
I find it very interesting that concept of wearing a mask is even separated with the political parties with a pretty big difference. America as a country has been doing a not-so-good job with being compliant to the CDC guidelines and following the protocols and restrictions put into place by officials. However, I think that it’s very interesting, with the amount of advertising other nations receive for being compliant versus the little talk about how some countries aren’t being as compliant, that our country is not taking a page from those countries following the guidlines books and realizing that these “annoying” protocols will go away sooner the quicker you are compliant. The American people know that other countries are doing much better and that some are even en route to return back to normal, and with all this information on those other countries guidelines and such why wouldn’t we want to be like them? I definitely agree with the idea that politics, as much as American’s want to deny is, do play a huge role in everything that is going on right now.
The separation of the views between the democrats and the republicans is a substantial reason why the states cannot have the same discipline and may not establish the same rules for their citizens. The difference in the views is very influencing. All of the states should work together in order for the pandemic to be over. Even if the views are different, the United States of the America should prove to its citizens that the rules that are established can also respect the privacy and the opinions of the people living in their country. As you said in your blog, other countries have proven to be able to coordinate the rules and the wishes of their citizens and, moreover, to end the coronavirus more quickly than the United States. One of many reasons why the coronavirus is not going to end soon in the United States is because the government is not establishing the well-coordinated discipline. The response to the coronavirus was extremely late and people did not have enough time to prepare and protect their lives. As you compared the foreign countries and how they reacted to pandemic, you did not include any information about how the Russia reacted to the COVID-19. I am originally from Russia and as I have relatives in that country, I am also very disappointed in how that country reacted to the pandemic. The president Putin of Russia decided to not show all the truth of the country’s financial situation and how the economy and the number of infected people really were during the pandemic. Many countries do this in order for the other ones to not understand that the economy is falling and to protect their trade. The live example is how China showed its real numbers and the trade completely stopped and the products from China stopped to be delivered to the other countries. What in your opinions is the main reason why some of the countries don’t publish and show their real records? Is it because they are afraid to lose their stability in their world trade? Or is it because of some other specific reason?
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Interesting facts, in this milenia of COVID-19, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Thailand have shown great majorities of citizens wearing face masks to public places, and as a result, have largely controlled the spread of the coronavirus.
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It’s interesting to see how countries like Singapore have quickly adapted to widespread mask-wearing during the pandemic, contrasting with the slower adoption rates in the UK, France, and the US. This speaks volumes about the influence of government handling and public trust in following health guidelines. Luckily, the pandemic situation has concluded, allowing all nations to resume regular life and business activities.