5Prevalence of Masks pre, during, and post pandemic IntroductionHello everyone, this is Reo Saito and I have recently joined to become a writer for The NewZ articles. I currently study at Grinnell College located in Iowa, or what we like to call it, “the middle of nowhere.” Grinnell College is a small liberal Arts College, and I currently intend to major in computer science. Although this is unrelated to my major, I have always been very cautious towards my sanitary measures and was honestly happy with how the general public’s awareness forward cleanliness went up into the COVID-19 pandemic, with everyone wearing masks and washing hands all the time. However, now that the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past, has society learned anything from it to better our lives now in the post-pandemic era? Let’s fi nd out by gathering numerical data as well as my fi ndings from my experience living in two contrasting locations of the big city of Tokyo, to the rural plains of Iowa.One of the biggest diff erences that I felt between Japan and the U.S. is defi nitely the prevalence of masks. Even before the pandemic, Japanese were using masks commonly. Such as during fl u seasons or when someone was feeling sick and was seen as a common item to be used in our daily lives. On the other hand, in the U.S., masks were not commonly used at all, and I believe that there was a stigma concerning them as an item worn during biohazards, or when someone is extremely sick in hospitals.However, the COVID-19 changed everything. Suddenly, people were no longer allowed to be in close proximity with each other, and we always had to wear masks to minimize the risks of spreading viruses from one person to another. Japan did not see much of an issue, and we all started to wear masks as if it was no biggie, so everyone went on with their lives. However, the United States had a bigger issue since the U.S. has a bigger culture of expressing one’s emotions with their mouths, meaning that masks literally veiled their emotions. In contrast, there is a greater emphasis on using the eyes to express emotions in Japan, so hiding the mouth was not seen as big of an issue. These diff erences are seen even in emoji, with Japan using the eyes to convey emoji such as ^_^, o_o and ;-;, whereas in the U.S., we use emoji such as ;) :D and :o, where the mouth is the center of focus.With such context in mind, I will explain the current situation regarding masks in the post-pandemic era. Many people in Japan still choose to wear masks, although the percentage of people that wear them has gone down since covid, and in some ways the idea of fashion with masks has developed with covid. Instead of wearing plain white non-woven masks, diff erent variations of masks have risen to popularity, most notably the 3D shape masks with various colors, which can help make your face look smaller, and reduce the blurring of makeup.Conversely, masks are hardly ever seen in the U.S. nowadays, with people going back to showing their mouths as a mode of self-expression. In fact, when we look at the data on the percentage of people who do not wear masks post-pandemic (2024), we can see that in the U.S., 80% of adults do not wear masks at all, whereas in Japan, only 14% of people do not wear masks at all, with 65% of Japanese people choosing to still wear masks on a regular basis.Grinnell College, U.S.Reo SaitoEff ects of COVID-19 in Our Daily Lives in the Post-Pandemic Era
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