Commentaries, regarding wearing the surgical masks to protect ourselves from contraction, from the Front Page Sections, translated…
The long lines outside the pharmacies, for the surgical masks, like having that “safe” number card; getting around with MERS-CoV now, turned left, not daring, going into, the crowds, to the right, grabbing the resources off the shelves, so we won’t run short. Getting lost in this, familiar city, before the possible outbreaks in a community, those faces underneath the surgical masks became, familiar, showing the worries, the anxieties, and the, unsettlement too.
The societies under crises in Wuhan, China, Korea, Iran, all the way to, Italy caused by the virus, is currently, rewriting the economies of the world, and yet, to the various races, are we, really, taking heed, of these, warning signs? Would those, self-centered frames of mind that people held, dissipate, because of this current, outbreak?
First, the masks, are the symbol for protection of human being. Taiwan is blessed and cursed, that due to long-term air pollution, the dust storms, a lot of the members of the public who’d been troubled with allergies or asthma, already became, used to, wearing that surgical mask. The groups of students going to school, no matter the time, always had their, masks, covering their faces, some wore their masks, all the way from freshman year to senior graduation, and the professors can’t even, recognize the students’, faces.
The various groups are already, used to, putting the masks on, and, as wearing the masks became, a way of life, naturally, we’d found the defense against MERS-CoV working. We won’t have the stereotypes like in Europe or North America, equating wearing the masks with illness, they’d not chosen to protect themselves with the masks, or others, and they’d, even pointed fingers at those who put on the surgical masks. And, as this subculture of mask-wearing extended down, not wearing the masks became, a mainstream trend, as Europe or America watches the world being, swallowed by the virus, they only fought over the foods, or the surgical masks, but, not very many are, wearing the masks.
And, Taiwan is blessed, and cursed also, being close to China, in business relations, the shadows left behind by SARS, caused the people here, to become, more aware, as MERS-CoV started, trending at the bottom of last year. With the experiences of fighting something similar from before, with the transparent information, continual amending the allocation of the supplies, it’d set Taiwan, who’s not a member of WHO up, steadily, for the trials up ahead.
The German Sociologist, Beck once stated, “Risk is a danger from the policies of man. In surpassing the traditional societal values blindly, people start using scientific means, to show their capabilities of handling danger and crises. Thinking back to how MERS-CoV started from Wuhan to across the whole of China during that very first month, the western world had watched, like it’s, not their problem, even used mockeries, to make the virus less, infectious, but, they’d not, done anything in forms of, risk assessment or risk management.
Unfortunately for the nations on this side of the Asian Pacific, perhaps, because of how close to China we and other nations are, we became noted, by the other nations as, accomplices for helping to spread out the virus. But later on, these countries, where the virus had, spread out to, lacked that sense of “risk awareness”, they’d not even, worn the masks, and, in life, they’d, loved bodily contact with each other too, wouldn’t this, help, furthering the spread of the contagious illness more?
Just as this time, the standardized operating procedures to handle the virus is too reliant on the scientific, and so, as Beck stated, “the awareness of risks is a second hand, un-experience”, other than following the protocols that the scientists established for preventing the virus from spreading in the laboratory settings, culturally, we sho8uld, stop the physical contacts with others, put that surgical mask on, put on, that awareness of protection!
And so, the Asian culture had the awareness to put on the surgical masks, to PREVENT the spread of the contagion, it’s, the soundest way, to keep ourselves, and others, safe from harm, and yet, the western world still, equates those who put on their masks, as they’re ill, and that’s because of the cultural differences, and, like the writer told, Taiwan had matured, due to the spread of SARS from before, and, the country had, gained its, experiences, in how to handle highly contagious illnesses, spreading by air or physical contact, while the rest of the western worlds in America, and in Europe, hadn’t caught on yet!