To this day, scientists argue about its usefulness and necessity. Only after endless sob was obliged to wear it. But that soon turned out to be the case. He was ubiquitous, swinging around in cars and on the street, and in the house. Next to the bed, washed in a trouser pocket, on the counter – everywhere.
Often it was uncomfortable if you forgot about him. There was always an observant customer in the supermarket who pointed this out to you. He was pliable. Whether covering the mouth or nose, both, or hanging casually at the bottom of a chin, it was all possible. He gave a sense of protection, though there were those who thought he was unnecessary or even angry at him, and took pride in not being seen with him.
He could get you a sweat moustache. And he became the symbol of the corona crisis.
Next Saturday is the official farewell to the mouth cap as a mandatory attribute in shops and other publicly accessible areas. Only where 1.5 meters away cannot be maintained, such as in public transport and secondary education, face masks remain mandatory, Prime Minister Rutte said at a press conference last night. The decision underlines that the Netherlands is well advanced on the route to the end of the pandemic.
Double message
So we are not completely rid of the mouth cap yet. The obligation to carry is abolished, but not completely.
“A double message,” notes Bas van den Putte, professor of health communication at the University of Amsterdam. “The risk of infection with the coronavirus is so small that you no longer have to wear a mouth cap. But there are situations where you can’t keep 1.5 meters away and then you have to do it again. So on the one hand there is no risk, on the other hand there is.”
Fodder for confusion, Van den Putte fears. “Part of the population will feel unsafe. Another part will be happy. Of course you always have the freedom to continue to wear a mouth cap. But if others don’t, at least in theory you could be at risk.”
Worse Compliance
Andrea Evers, professor of health psychology in Leiden and, like Van den Putte, a member of the scientific advisory board of the corona behavior unit of the RIVM, also fears confusion. “People can think: it’s no longer necessary, is it? And don’t wear a face mask anymore. That need not be unwillingness. Often people are simply not well informed.”
The behavioral unit already concluded in the summer of last year that people with a mouth cap on are more careful. “It’s a reminder that something is going on,” Evers says. “That implicit warning is now disappearing. Just the news of the impending decision leads to poorer compliance with the rules. That is not without risk.”
She points to the United Kingdom, where relaxations have been postponed now that the number of infections is rising. “Something like that can happen here. But reintroducing the obligation to wear will not be easy, that will create resistance.”
Van den Putte: “From the point of view of feelings of safety among the entire population, it would have been clearer to wait, and then – if you were even further with reducing the virus – to completely abolish the face mask. Also in transit. Then you would have taken everyone. Now I foresee division.”
Ventilation
The question remains whether the mask has contributed to contain the pandemic. There is no conclusive proof. In recent months a number of to investigate which shows that it can reduce the infection rate, partly depending on the quality of the mouth cap and the ventilation in an indoor space.
People for whom the mask has become a loyal companion will feel a bit eerie in many places without it. But when the corona crisis is behind us, the mask will quickly disappear from view. Evers: “Ultimately, it’s an annoying thing. If you stop doing it completely, we’ll forget it in no time.”
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