{"id":863,"date":"2020-04-17T22:30:04","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T03:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=863"},"modified":"2020-05-02T18:59:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T23:59:09","slug":"wear-the-mask-even-if-trump-wont-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2020\/04\/17\/wear-the-mask-even-if-trump-wont-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Wear the Mask Even If Trump Won\u2019t\u2014Here\u2019s Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Emil Guillermo

<\/strong>Donald Trump says it\u2019s voluntary. But if you want to fight the virus effectively, mask up my friend. Just saw a test of the spitules that come out of your mouth and nose during a Mt. Taal like sneeze. It\u2019s gross. And if you\u2019re asymptomatic and seem fine, you may be unwittingly spreading disease.

So mask up. You want to make it past Palm Sunday to Easter and beyond.

Got to make it past this period which the surgeon general describes as \u201cour Pearl Harbor moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our sabre and shield against the pandemic will always be aggressive hand washing and social distancing. Keep at it. Wash up and have a Zoom meeting. Wash up after even.

But since the curve has not flattened, and we don\u2019t really know how many are infected (not until we test nearly everyone), we have arrived at another milestone in our COVID battle: universal mask wearing.

Not like a masquerade ball mask. More therapeutic than that. (But if you\u2019re having a hard time with masks, go ahead and think about Kubrick\u2019s \u201cEyes Wide Shut.\u201d Make it fun).

Of course, we have a problem with masks in America.

Even as an ABA (Asian born in America), or specifically an American Filipino, I don\u2019t relate so easily. Masks? Batman has one. So do bank robbers. And the Klan. Oh,yes the Klan. The white hoodie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In America, we like transparency. As my wife from Missouri likes to say, \u201cShow me.\u201d Everyone else says, let\u2019s see your face.

For some reason, that\u2019s in the American DNA. We don\u2019t trust what\u2019s hidden. Unless it\u2019s the terms of service for a new app or software. Who reads that? In technology we trust, blindly.

Everything else, it\u2019s show me. In big letters.

The mask calculation is even more culturally complicated when we ask, who else wears masks in public, besides superheroes?

Asians in Asia, of course, and recent Asian immigrants who live in densely populated areas. Among Asian Americans, the mask is no big deal, commonplace and often necessary.

In places like Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo\u2013where social distance often requires a new zip code\u2013masks are the accepted norm. At first glance, it might look like mask wearers want to protect themselves.

But really, it\u2019s done more out of concern for you, or anyone else in tight quarters, who may be within six feet.

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of respect,\u201d said a woman I call \u201cAkira,\u201d to protect her privacy.

When Trump\u2019s \u201cChinese Virus\u201d talk infected America, Akira found herself attacked by someone she described as a \u201cwhite construction worker-type in his 40s,\u201d who saw Akira\u2019s mask as the target on her face.

He was reacting to his notion of Asian stereotypes and his own xenophobia. The man rushed Akira, a Japanese American, like it was football practice, and pushed her to the ground.

Akira broke her finger, but mostly, she was in shock. She\u2019s just one of more than 1,000 cases that have been reported to a website collecting data of violent incidents against Asian Americans in the last ten days of the pandemic. Researchers tell me the list grows by 100 cases each day.

Seventy cases or 7 percent involved Filipino victims. Overall nearly 20 percent were triggered by the mask alone. To many a symbol of Asianness

Akira, born in Japan, a New Yorker for nearly 30 years, is recovering now. She\u2019s become a statistic\u2014an Asian American attacked during the pandemic. But she doesn\u2019t believe she\u2019s the day\u2019s most important stat\u2014a person infected by the virus.

Still, she told me today that she continues to wear the mask in public out of respect for others.

\u201cHere in the U.S, nobody respects others. They are all for themselves,\u201d she told me. \u201cThat is a problem.\u201d

Masked Americans<\/strong>
So the one way to get all Americans to start wearing masks? Tell them it\u2019s about selfishly saving themselves.

Asians see it more as a sign of being a good citizen, sick or not, keeping their droplets to themselves, so as not to infect anyone else.

Americans, like the one who attacked Akira, see being forced to wear a mask like being forced to wear seat belts. It\u2019s an affront to liberty.

It may also be seen as a debilitating symbol of someone weak or ill. America the sick. Not for the brave, proud, mask-less Americans!

But now officials in the most Asian places in America, like Los Angeles and Honolulu, have called for mask wearing as a public health matter.

If the CDC and Donald Trump say yes to masks, even simple cloth ones, we\u2019ll have to see how the majority of Americans adjusts.

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take education and communication\u201d said Prof. Yuen Kwok-Yung, a microbiologist, physician and Chair of Infectious Diseases at Hong Kong University.

Sreenivasan\u2019s daily Covid-19 periscope broadcast, Prof. Yung called wearing a mask a \u201csocial duty\u201d that could help cut the spread of the virus. But he said in America, it may require training, perhaps even some persuasive advertising, before forcing Americans by some \u201cdraconian measure\u201d to wear masks.

Americans want to do things by choice, but there\u2019s no constitutional right to go mask free.

Yung said the science definitely justifies the mask. He said we know that asymptomatic people can spread the disease unknowingly through their saliva, through microscopic droplets big and small in their breath. They infect the air, surfaces, and other people around them. A mask would prevent all that and protect others.

Mind you, we\u2019re not talking about the heavy duty N-95 masks\u2013the ones that must go to the nurses and docs on the front lines\u2013but cloth or regular surgical masks. Critics do warn about masks giving a false sense of security, since masks don\u2019t cover the eyes or are sometimes ill-fitting.

But as the professor knows, the science isn\u2019t masked. It\u2019s there.

Go ahead, put it on your face. It can stop the spread. It\u2019s not just an Asian thing.

Akira, undaunted by being attacked, was walking around with her mask today, like a good citizen and without fear.

\u201cMore people in New York are wearing them,\u201d she said. And maybe across America soon.

Her attacker may have been irrational, but wearing a mask is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

EMIL GUILLERMO<\/strong> is a veteran journalist and commentator. He was a member of the Honolulu Advertiser editorial board. Listen to him on Apple Podcasts. Twitter <\/em>@emilamok<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Emil Guillermo Donald Trump says it\u2019s voluntary. But if you want to fight the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=1050%2C600",1050,600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=300%2C171",300,171,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=640%2C366",640,366,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=640%2C366",640,366,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=1050%2C600",1050,600,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=1050%2C600",1050,600,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600",1050,600,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=870%2C570",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=600%2C600",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600",1050,600,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=780%2C500",780,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=1024%2C585",1024,585,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=540%2C285",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?resize=375%2C250",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Candid Perspectives<\/a>","tag_info":"Candid Perspectives","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Untitled-design-2.jpg?fit=1050%2C600","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions\/864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}