Originally Posted by
stimpy
Sorry if I wasn't clear, but in the west we simply do not have masks. I have one single mask myself, but I'm saving it for when I might actually need it. You cannot buy masks here as the shops are sold out. The hospitals are hoarding what they have. Hopefully the mask producers can whip up a hundred billion more masks ASAP.
Not sure about the mask situation in each individual countries but I think many governments are create to prevent panic buying of mask so that medical workers and other high risk individuals can buy them. For places like HK which has gone through SARS, everyone wears a mask. People will look at you oddly and distance themselves if you are not wearing one.