Question

While the U.S. and other countries are debating the potential value of a universal face

mask rule in combating the spread of coronavirus, here in the Czech Republic that debate was

settled weeks ago: it absolutely works!

Last month, at the earliest appearance of Covid-19 cases in this central European

country of 10 million, the Czech government was among the first on the continent to shut down

all non-essential businesses, impose severe restrictions on public gatherings, and close its

borders. This society quickly adopted the physical-distancing and hand-washing régimen that

has now become standard all over the world. But what sets the Czech Republic apart from

almost every other country in Europe was the decision two weeks ago to require everyone to

wear a face mask covering the nose and mouth at all times outside the home.

As an American living in Prague, I was impressed by the reaction of Czechs and foreign

residents alike to this draconian measure. People here clearly understood the importance of

preserving the supply of professional medical/surgical masks for health care providers and first

responders. So without complaint, the entire nation transformed itself almost overnight into a

giant factory churning out home made masks. Thousands of individuals and businesses

immediately began sewing masks out of a variety of fabrics. Dozens of video tutorials for

producing make shift respiratory masks appeared on the Internet in Czech and English. Within

three days, there were enough masks for every man, woman, and child in this country of 10

million.

Today, when I venture out to walk my dog, I rarely see anyone on the streets of Prague

without a face mask. Despite the inconvenience and discomfort of having to breathe through

a mask, it hasbecome a badgeof honor and a form of social bonding to have one’s nose and

mouth covered. Wearing a mask is a signal of each person’s willingness to play his or her part

in this epic battle against the pandemic. Those who defy the law by carelessly pulling down

their masks to drink a coffee or smoke a cigarette are subject to a hefty fine and also run the

risk of being confronted and ostracized by fellow citizens. The government has now banned cigarette smoking outside, for this reason. With few exceptions — there are fools everywhere

— it appears that most people here have embraced the universal face mask rule with a

philosophy of shared determination and collective responsibility for preventing the coronavírus

from ravaging this country.

But is it working? We all know that the original guidance from the World Health

Organization held that face masks should not be used to protect against the virus, but there is

now strong evidence that this advice was based more on the urgent need to preserve the supply

of medical masks for health care providers rather than on any consideration of whether masks

of any sort might offer some added protection for ordinary citizens, in addition to physical-

distancing and hand-washing. Numerous experts have written recently that even a simple home

made cotton mask covering the nose and mouth could help to block some of the micro droplets

carrying coronavirus.

The Czech government has disseminated a persuasive video arguing that home made

masks go a long way towards preventing contagious people from coughing broadly into the air

and infecting healthy ones — and that universal use of face coverings will dramatically reduce

the infection rate. The Czech motto is “your mask protects me, my mask protects you”.
There are clear indications that the extreme measures being enforced here —

particularly the universal face mask requirement — are keeping down the per capita numbers

of those who have tested positive for coronavirus, compared to many neighboring countries

such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and of course Spain and Italy. So far, the Czech

Republic has had fewer than 50 deaths from Covid-19. But more importantly, the percentage

of new cases each day among those tested appears to be dropping. In other words, the Czech

across-the-board face mask rule is beginning to “flatten the curve”, as has happened in China,

Taiwan, South Korea, and other places where masks are widely used.

Czech officials hope to persuade other countries to follow their lead on face masks. Last

month, the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, sent out the following tweet addressed to

President Trump: “Mr. President… try tackling virus the Czech way. Wearing a simple cloth

mask, decreases the spread of the virus by 80%! Czech Republic has made it OBLIGATORY

for its citizens to wear a mask in the public. Plsre tweet. God bless America” .​

Answer 1

Resposta:

desculpa mas eu não entendi