There are “34 scientific papers indicating basic masks can be effective in reducing virus transmission in public — and not a single paper that shows clear evidence that they cannot. Hospitals running short of N95-rated masks are turning to homemade cloth masks themselves.”

“Hong Kong, Mongolia, South Korea and Taiwan, have covid-19 largely under control. They are all near the original epicenter of the pandemic in mainland China, and they have economic ties to China. Yet none has resorted to a lockdown.”

“Many authorities still advise only people with symptoms to wear masks. But this doesn’t help with a disease like covid-19, since a person who does not yet show symptoms can still be contagious. If we all wear masks, people unknowingly infected with the coronavirus would be less likely to spread it.”

“Wearing a mask [in the Czech Republic] is now considered a prosocial behavior. Going outside without one is frowned on as an antisocial action that puts your community at risk. In fact, the community reaction has been so strong that the government has responded by making it illegal to go out in public without a mask.”