在疫情爆发期间，究竟要不要戴口罩？

莎士比亚作品，哈姆雷特中有句名言：“是求生还是寻死，这是必须面对的问题”。哈姆雷特当年考虑的是生与死，而我们正在考虑相同的问题。同时，我们在是否戴口罩上拿不定主意，脑子里翻来覆去地问:“口罩，戴还是不戴，这是必须面临的问题”。

The most famous soliloquy in the works of Shakespeare was pronounced by Hamlet - “To be or not to be, that is the question”. Hamlet was thinking about life and death back then, we are contemplating the same today while struggling with the topic of mask wearing. We are constantly examining the thought - “To mask or not to mask, that is the question”.

不久前，政客们用“加拿大卫生部”的疫情常见问题解答做挡箭牌。有关此话题的文章以及关于约克区区议员李国贤欺负一个戴口罩的人的故事，请点击：http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/668372

Earlier on, politicians hide behind the Health Canada Information package (frequently Asked Questions FAQ#10). For the article on this and a story on Councillor Joe Li's bullying of mask wearers, you can click here: http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/668372

今天你也许关心的话题：

最富有的美国为何缺乏口罩？
记者讲述逃离巴黎的亲身经历
疫情宅家 民众可进行哪些户外活动？要避免哪些活动？

想要阅读与本文有关的话题？请点击本文末的链接！



加拿大卫生部公布的疫情的常见问题之一是：加拿大普通人是否应该戴口罩保护自己免受新冠病毒的侵害？

Health Canada FAQ : Should the general population in Canada wear masks to protect themselves from COVID-19?

卫生部的答案是：如果身体健康，你不需要戴口罩。

Answer: If you are a healthy individual, the use of a mask is not necessary.

仔细琢磨卫生部的用词，它使用了“不必要”一词。这实际上意味着你自己决定在是否要戴口罩。否则，卫生部将使用更强硬的语气，例如“不推荐”或“尽量不戴”。

When we look at the paragraphs above, the statement uses the words “not necessary”. This really means that you can use your own discretion when it comes to the wearing of masks. Otherwise, stronger words like “not recommended” or “should be curtailed” would have been used.



卫生部的问答发布几周后，安大略省政府的网站公布了以下建议：

Fast forward a few weeks and we find this on the Ontario Government's web site :

用口罩捂住鼻子和嘴巴

Wear a mask over your nose and mouth

如果必须离开家去看医生，请戴口罩

wear a mask if you must leave your house to see a health care provider

与他人相距两米以内时要戴口罩
wear a mask when you are within two metres of other people

安省的建议看似与卫生部的建议矛盾。但你不必过于激动，因为安省以上的建议是针对那些需要“自我隔离”的人。

Before we get overly excited about this seemingly contradictory bit of information, we must examine where the instructions are located. They are found under “self-isolation” paragraphs.



自我隔离包括所有从其他国家返回加拿大的人，同时也适用于70岁以上或免疫功能有问题的人（无论他们是否从国外回来）。这可能是基于他们是弱势群体。可悲的是，自我隔离似乎对后者没起作用，因为宣传和实施做得不够。

Self-isolation is applicable to all those who are returning to Canada from other countries. It is also applicable to those who are over 70 years old or immunosuppressed (whether they have travelled or not). This is probably based on the vulnerability of this group. Sadly, the applicability of self-isolation to this latter groups of people are not well publicized and implemented.

我在疫情爆发以来看到别人戴口罩。在过去的两个月中，极少数人在公共场所戴着口罩。他们当中许多似乎是年轻的大陆留学生。本周，我去了一趟大统华超市，惊奇地发现该超市的所有员工都戴着口罩，而且85％的顾客也戴口罩。我看起来与众不同，觉得自己属于孤家寡人。我心里问自己是否也应该戴好口罩，以免感染他人（因为我无法确定自己是否是冠状病毒携带者，没有症状且未经测试）。这些人都戴着口罩，因此他们几乎不会将病毒唾液（如果有的话）飘到我身上，但我还是觉得自己也该戴口罩。

Let me recount for you my personal experience on the witnessing of mask wearing by others. Over the last two months, I witnessed a very small minority of people wearing masks in public. The group of wearers seemed to be young mainland students. This week, I visited the local T&T and came to the startling reality – all the staff members of the supermarket were wearing masks, along with 85% of the customers. I looked out of place and began to feel like an outcast. I questioned in my mind whether I should have worn my mask so I will not infect others (since I cannot be sure if I was a corona virus carrier – no symptoms and untested). I almost feel obligated to wear a mask, given that these people all wore masks so they will not pass their virus particles (if any) onto me.



但在Costco购物时，情景完全不一样。那里只有35％的人戴着口罩。我必须指出，在这两个地方，那些戴口罩的人似乎都是“亚洲人”。为此，我得出无可否认的结论：在疫情时期，取决于你去哪里，戴口罩是个人的选择。

It was a different story with shoppers at Costco. Only 35% of people wore masks. I must point out that almost all masked customers in both places appeared to be “Asians”. I came to the undeniable conclusion: Wearing a mask in these difficult times is a personal choice, dictate by the community constituents and facilities one is visiting.

在过去的两个月中，加拿大政府希望我们不要戴口罩，同时称这样做会给他人带来“恐惧”。当统计数据显示病毒感染的数字非常低时，这种方法很有用。但当安大略省的感染人数达到500例，而加拿大全境的感染人数超过1400例时，我发现人们对戴口罩的态度发生了变化。他们感觉到未被发现的（潜在）冠状病毒携带者的数量增加，并决定戴口罩以保护自己和他人，因为对于很多已经得病的人症状并不明显。

Throughout the last few months, the Canadian Government wants us to not wear any masks while claiming that doing so will create “fear” for others. That worked when the statistics showed very low figures for virus infections. I detected the change in attitude in mask wearing when the number of infections reached 500 in Ontario and over 1400 in all of Canada. At that turning point, people sensed the increase in the level of undetected (potential) carriers of the corona-viruses and decided that they must wear masks to protect themselves as well as others since symptoms are not obvious for a good percentage of infected persons.



我们看到台湾和香港当地的居民日常都戴着口罩，且他们的感染率比其他大多数地方都低，而且减轻了对医疗系统的压力。如果只有少数人在某行业中戴着口罩，你可能会觉得他/她一定生病了。当企业为所有员工提供口罩时，你实际上会感觉到他们这样做是在保护你。这也许会让更多的顾客来光顾他们的生意，而不去那些雇员不戴口罩的地方。

When we look at places like Taiwan and Hong Kong where people are wearing masks as part of their daily routine, their infection rates are lower than most other places and more manageable for their health care system. If only a few people are wearing masks at some business, you may feel that the wearers must be sick. When the business supplied all its staff with masks, you will actually feel that they are all doing that to protect you instead. You would rather patronize that business than any other ones with less of their staff wearing masks.

根据个人的健康状况和对别人的信任，是否戴口罩是你自己的选择，不必看人眼色和别人的建议。对于一个人和周围的人来说，这可能意味着生死。如果哈姆雷特今天还活着，他肯定会同意这一结论。

Depending on one's health conditions and confidence level of others, wearing a mask becomes an individual's decision independent of external instructions and recommendations. It can mean life or death for an individual and all those that are located in the proximity. If Hamlet were alive today, he will certainly agree to this conclusion.