A French physician describes face masks as a strategic reserve that his country has wasted after it had stored millions of them for times of need. The US is no better, after Trump threatened revenge, saying that he won’t allow other countries to get the masks that his country needs. The US president has kept his promise; what was not given to him he took by force, and confiscated and retrieved face masks that were headed to Germany, France and Canada, indifferent to his neighbors, through agents in China, after paying more and consequently, receiving higher priority.
This is what many countries are failing to do. Israel is deploying its intelligence, using Mossad operations to take medical equipment before others, including, of course, face masks, of which France alone had ordered 2 billion from China. The secret behind this is simply its production, as many countries need massive quantities of them that nobody but China can provide.
One is confused about whether to cry or laugh when they see a face mask that nobody had previously cared about becoming a star commodity most needed by humanity. Asians have long been the subject of international mockery for using face masks and now people are envious of them and find their formula to be their last savior in a pandemic with no foreseeable end or solution.
After the quarantine ends, face masks will become part of our fashion when we leave our homes. The curfew will not be suspended without masks to protect people from each other. It is also unknown how long masks will remain the companion of travelers and people on the street, and nobody knows whether it will become a new international human tradition after they realize the importance of covering one’s mouth and nose and that it has many health benefits.
It is not unusual for face covers to become common during a pandemic of this size, what is unusual is that it is not being prepared fast enough. Quarantine and face covering are the two oldest prescriptions that humanity has known during pandemics. It is no invention from the Asians, but a confession of weakness and humility in front of hardship. For some countries to need two to three months to recommend face masks as a protective measure is indeed astonishing, and warrants contemplation.
Accountability will become much harsher after it becomes apparent that not recommending face masks was not a scientific opinion but stemmed from a lack of reserves and equipment. This is seen as a national scandal in France.
It would have been better for governments to advise their citizens to produce masks and to be honest with them instead of deceiving them, as any form of face cover is better than none. This has become the general opinion and is what is being told to those leaving their quarantines.
For the US president to refuse to wear a mask is not courage against the disease but a rejection of an antithetic cultural model that has become a reality in Europe and is defining the post-coronavirus era with an Asian prescription that begins with face masks and reaches widespread and rapid testing and electronic surveillance (adopted in Italy) that goes against liberal western values, ending with distinguishing positives from negatives, and according to test results, quarantining some of them.
It was possible for a cloth on the face not to take this dramatic dimension and all of this cultural significance. Europe has used it during pandemics and photos dating back to the Spanish Flu show that. China, however, with all of its wit contributed to exaggerating this symbolic dimension and in deepening this narcissistic western wound instead of alleviating it. Chinese planes traveled around countries distributing their face masks, gloves and protective clothing to large countries where physicians began wearing trash bags due to scarcity and use one mask for days instead of replacing them every few hours. China is benefiting from this warm welcome and beautiful confession in countries that felt they were left alone during their hardship, and this is what Europeans are considering badly timed propaganda.
Europeans are discovering that the majority of their medical equipment and tools are made in China and that even their very few remaining factories need material from the country of dragons and India. This shortage of masks is particularly provocative because of how easy they are to produce and how primitive they are.
The face mask war is expanding beyond tension between two cultures and civilizations to become a cause of sensitivity for Europeans and we do not know the implications that it will have in the future. However, after some months, Europe and the US will surely solve the mask issue, and another problem will arise, the problem of tests, many of which are being delivered not fit for use with a large margin of error.
It is ironic for viruses to become the measure for how advanced a country is and how superior a government is, measured by how available it can make face masks after they were lacking in countries that produce planes and missiles. This is how Erdogan seized the opportunity to announce to the world that he is providing face masks for all of Turkey so long as the pandemic lasts and that his reserves are massive enough to be distributed for free to any Turkish person who needs them. He also announced that he will deliver his excess of masks to Spain and Italy. Russia is also sending its face masks and equipment to the US. Macron is also announcing that in a few weeks he will be able to locally produce 15 million face masks a week.
The face mask war is covering a jungle of battles that are being fought over medicines, gloves and plastic needles. What is unbelievable is that during this era of scientific advancement and technological miracles, the only three trusted prescriptions for fighting COVID-19 are: stay home, wash your hands regularly and do not forget your face mask if you have to take a step beyond your doorstep.
