There are two principles governments use to make public health decisions, and on mask-wearing they’re in direct conflict.
Community members wearing protective face masks as they queue for aid in Zandspruit informal settlement, north of Johannesburg.
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Wearing masks is being introduced in conjunction with maintaining a physical distance of at least 1.5 metres and following hygiene measures such as hand washing.
Red Cross nurses in San Francisco, 1918.
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Audiologists recommend enhanced communication strategies in the time of coronavirus to help the nearly 60 million Americans living with hearing loss in one or both ears.
Take steps to protect yourself while shopping.
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Now that face masks are being used to help fight the spread of COVID-19, it has caused some to look anew at discrimination against Muslim women who wear niqabs.
John Tyndall used a beam of light to reveal floating motes of organic matter in the air which he believed carried disease.
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Understanding that germs can cause illness was an important step in learning how to stop the spread of disease
Health care workers at Lake Regional Hospital in Osage Beach, Missouri, wear face shields donated by students from Camdenton High School in Camdenton, Missouri.
Provided courtesy of Camdenton High School
The COVID-19 outbreak presents many opportunities for students to develop needed solutions to real-life problems, says a researcher overseeing school project to produce personal protective equipment.
Medical staff prepare for the opening of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Brewer Park Arena in Ottawa in March 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The 3M face mask dustup between the U.S. and Canada, although quickly resolved, starkly illustrated that Canada must find compromises with its southern neighbour about the trade of COVID-19 products.
A woman wearing a niqab and headscarf, with other shoppers in Istanbul, August 13, 2018.
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As people everywhere don face masks, scarves and bandanas to protect against coronavirus, Muslim women who wear the niqab, or Islamic veil, are feeling a lot less conspicuous.
The CDC now recommends that everyone wear a face covering when they go into a public place. But there’s confusion about why and if this protects the wearer, people around them or both.
People have resorted to using scarves and bandanas as face masks to protect against spreading coronavirus. While cloth masks aren’t as effective as surgical masks, research suggests they can limit the spread of droplets.
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U.S. health officials flipped their advice and now recommend everyone wear cloth masks in public to reduce the spread of coronavirus to others. Some cities have fines for going without masks.
As the cases of coronavirus spread across the world, China is keen to position itself as a charitable country through “mask diplomacy” internationally, while showing a different face at home.
In the past, maintaining physical distance was an important aspect of public life – and clothes played a big role.
People wearing protective face masks walk on a nearly deserted plaza outside Canada Place in Vancouver on March 14, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The face mask shortage shows how governments can either work together with global supply chains in positive ways or revert to state-centric policies that prevent us from dealing with COVID-19.
How do we develop new drugs quickly yet safely? How prepared are we to give up some personal freedoms? And how do we allocate scarce resources? These are just some of the tough questions we face.