A few non-expert observations from my experience this week in 3 countries with very different coronavirus experiences (I received travel exemptions to go to these places as a journalist traveling with the secretary of state). 1/
Let me emphasize, I’m not making judgements; I’m not a medical expert and these places are at different stages in the corona battle. Between DC, Copenhagen and London, mask-wearing is vastly more abundant in DC. 2/
I traveled first to the UK, which has at times had the highest death rate in the world. The lack of mask use in central London was quite noticeable compared to DC. I popped into some small shops with @NickKalmanFN and shoppers and store-owners indoors weren’t wearing masks. 3/
You’ll see some people wearing masks on a busy street in London, but far fewer than in DC. I asked a few people why so few people were wearing masks and the response was: “It’s not mandatory.” 4/
Mask wearing became mandatory yesterday in DC, but even before that became the rule, it was still much more common than in the places of central London I was in. 5/
It’s becoming mandatory in London very shortly, so I expect this to change, but it’s interesting how much more aggressively DC residents took up non-government mandated mask-wearing. 6/
In Copenhagen, Mask-wearing is also not mandatory, but the country has contained its outbreak with relative success, confirming about 13,000 infections and 611 deaths related to the pandemic. There the non-mask-wearing contrast is most stark. 7/
I spoke to one local about it who said: We did a real lock down for two months, and it seemed to significantly set back the virus. Now the feeling is that the only real risk is outsiders. 8/
The combination of Copenhagen's relaxed outlook on masks, and its view that foreigners pose a bigger threat to spread, is probably why incidents like this happened yesterday: washingtonpost.com/world/2020/07/… 9/9
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