Let's face up to it; this mass cover-up benefits everybody

I had an errand to run one recent afternoon, and a quick look at the clock told me that I had better get moving or I would be too late. I patted my pockets to make sure I had my keys, glasses and phone, and on my way out the door grabbed a bag of trash to throw in the bin. Then I ran down the six flights of stairs.

When I reached the building's entrance, a couple was coming in. I said hello, and they gave me an odd look.

As I hurried over to the trash bin, an older woman seemed to give me a disapproving look.

What was going on? Did my hair need combing? Well, it would have to wait, because I was in a hurry.

At the gate to the compound, the security guards, who are usually friendly, just looked at me in answer to my hello.

Then I got to the sidewalk outside the compound and remember thinking that I felt so very comfortable. That's what alerted me. I had forgotten my mask. It wasn't the first time I had to run back into the compound and up the six flights of stairs to get one.

These days, I always wear a mask unless I am at home－which means, much of the time.

Of course, I had worn them at other times in my life, too, but in those days, they had a big red nose, a fake mustache and glasses, or devil's horns sticking out of the forehead. Good old Halloween.

Today it's different. Masks aren't worn for fun. They're uncomfortable. They make the lenses of my eyeglasses cloud over. They make my face feel clammy, and the back of my ears ache from the straps.

But I would never purposely leave my apartment without one. Unlike some people in my country, the United States, I'm a big believer in them.

I take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously and try to do what I can to protect myself－I sometimes wonder if my fingerprints will survive the vigorous repeated scrubbings I give my hands each day.

And it isn't just to protect myself, I want to make sure I don't become an unwitting risk to others and spread the illness.

Sure, the chance of that might be less than I think, given the no-nonsense, effective response to this pandemic in China.

Who would not be impressed by the investigative actions taken by Beijing and national authorities to promptly gain control over a sudden outbreak of the virus such as the recent one emanating from a wholesale market in the capital?

I know I found it reassuring.

And I hear that in China and elsewhere tremendous progress is being made toward a COVID-19 vaccination. I understand that at least two candidates have reached advanced stages of testing and seem to show promise.

Chinese health authorities have said that there are still difficulties to be overcome in subduing the virus, but their performance so far has shown that faith in their abilities is not misplaced.

Still, we have to take care that this faith doesn't lure us into complacency.

Health authorities still recommend wearing masks in public places, particularly indoor ones, and we owe it to each other to do just that.

Most people comply, though I have to admit I'm surprised by the many I see whose manner of compliance seems to defeat the purpose. There are people who wear their masks as though they were chin warmers, suspended from the strings behind their ears.

Others position them just beneath their noses.

Some sport them as though they were fashionable pendants to dangle from an ear－I've not seen anyone yet try out the blindfold or hat-with-ear-straps approach, but it's still early days.

Then there are those I see from time to time who wait until they come alongside you, then lower their mask and sneeze into the air.

I have an acquaintance who at such moments says, "Thank you for sharing".

Let's all remember to be careful, so that we all come through this difficult time.