Mark Slapinski
The head of Ontario’s science table is telling people to “ditch” single-cloth masks and to wear double-clothed masks. This recommendation was met with pushback by mask resisters.
In an interview with CP24, Peter Juni, the head of Ontario’s science table, recommended Ontarians increase their level of protection against COVID-19 by opting for double layered masks, at a minimum. Juni went on to state that bus drivers, for example, should consider wearing a cloth mask on top of a medical mask “as the starting point, as the minimum.” Juni reminded people that COVID-19 is “an airborne disease.”
Naturally, Juni’s comments were met with pushback online. One person suggested that he’ll continue to “not wear one at all.”
Mask-wearing has become a politicized topic in Canada and across the world. Earlier this month CBC reported on two passengers that were on a flight to the Yukon capital that ended up being charged with “causing a disturbance” and “mischief” after they refused to wear facemasks and became aggressive with flight staff.
Masks have been met with resistance as far as the Russian Federation. At the beginning of December, Radio Free Europe reported that a gunman opened fire on a government services center in Moscow and killed two people, after being told to wear a face mask.
While masks have been recommended by health authorities, there is a small, but vocal group that resists them. According to a study:
The media attention that [anti-maskers] have drawn may have given the misleading impression that the anti-mask sentiment is widespread. However, our findings, just like the findings from opinion surveys show that the majority of people are willing to follow the advice of health authorities about wearing masks.
