I’m all for people not wearing masks if they are feeling well, but I just don’t trust that everyone is socially responsible enough to mask up when they are unwell.
SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE
Call me cynical but after three years of living in a pandemic, civic-minded behaviour isn’t as common as it should be and this has only been more apparent with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Singapore. Let me share a few anecdotes.
Recently, a friend, X, told me about a lunch gathering with friends. Her friend, Y, had just returned from overseas and was having a sore throat. But because she tested negative for COVID-19 with an ART kit, Y decided to attend the lunch.
Later at night, Y tested positive for COVID-19. X and a few other friends at the gathering soon came down with COVID-19 too. Y, knowing that she was unwell, should have refrained from attending the gathering.
Another friend was really miffed when her cousin brought along his coughing kids to a Chinese New Year gathering. A few days later, two elderly relatives who had sat beside the kids during dinner came down with a respiratory illness.
While my friend can’t say for sure that the old folks caught the germs from the coughing kids, the bottom line is that if her cousin was socially responsible, he would have kept his kids at home, or at the very least have them wear masks and keep their distance.