Are people who don’t wear masks endangering themselves? I’m thinking particularly of the extreme ends of the spectrum – 20-somethings and senior citizens who feel that masks and stepped-up hygiene practices are unnecessary.
Alison Bernstein, Ph.D.:
People who don’t wear masks are endangering their friends, families, neighbors and communities. Your masks protects the people around you and their masks protect you. Eventually, this does come around to endangering themselves as their refusal to wear a mask will help the virus continue to spread throughout the community.
I think that appealing to civic duty, shared responsibility and protecting the people in your community who are high-risk or less able to physical distance because of their jobs or living situations may help to convince people to wear masks.