Study places Mexico among the most mask-using nations in the world
The use of masks has become the most widely used method for the prevention of COVID-19. That is why the University of Maryland and Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with Facebook, have conducted a global survey to determine the use of facemasks among different populations around the world.
According to the global survey, nine out of ten Mexicans have adopted face masks as a regular feature of their daily lives. As a result, Mexico ranks third in Latin America in terms of mask use, with 88.7% of Mexicans using it regularly, placing the country behind only Puerto Rico (94.7%) and Chile (91.7%).
The study conducted by the two universities under the name of "The Global COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey", is based on a daily survey of thousands of social network users, thus, they can estimate different aspects of the respondents, from the acceptance of vaccines to possible mental health diseases resulting from the pandemic.
The Mexican figures are well above countries such as the United States, where 64.5% of its citizens use the mask on a daily basis, and some European countries such as Germany (77.1%) and France (80.9%). Spain, on the other hand, maintains values above 86%, despite the fact that it ceased to be compulsory outdoors last week.
The top of the ranking is occupied by Asian countries, where the use of masks was already common before the pandemic: Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan have more than 95% of the population who claim to use this resource.
The Mexican data is particularly striking because it contradicts the usual discourse of the Mexican government, which has claimed that "the use of face masks is of little or no use", said the undersecretary of health, Hugo Lopez-Gatell.
This refusal to use the mask as protection against COVID-19 has become evident among Mexico's main leaders, such as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has refused to use it in different official acts.
However, the Mexican population has not taken this discourse as a reference for its own actions and has adopted the mask as the main tool in the pandemic, and not as an "auxiliary measure", as Hugo López-Gatell has recommended on different occasions.
"The majority of Mexicans, and in particular the inhabitants of Mexico City, have opted for the face mask as a preventive measure and part of the essential kit you should have in the pandemic, despite the fact that the signals from the government and in particular from the president were different from the start," says Alejandro Moreno, professor at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México and head of polling at the El Financiero media outlet.
According to the National Survey on SARS-CoV-2, carried out in 2020, the use of masks became the most widely used prevention resource, with more than 70% of use among around 1,000 Mexicans interviewed. Alejandro Moreno points out that the frequent use of masks has become established in society, although their use increases when a wave appears and decreases when the number of cases decreases again. According to data from the University of Maryland, the percentages have not fallen below 75% of frequent use since May 2020.
The adoption of this resource can be explained by the imitation of social patterns, by regulations or by the conviction of its usefulness, added to the fact that it is cheap equipment and "is within the reach of anyone", explains Juan José García, a specialist in Public Health at the UNAM.
The Latin American region has similar results to Mexico, with the lowest figures in Brazil and Paraguay (78.8 and 72.2 per cent, respectively). However, the use of masks has been adapted in each place according to the incidence of the pandemic. "Several European countries and states in the United States are relaxing its use, which means that its use is going to be reduced, but in our case it may be a little more widespread and it will probably have to do with the behaviour of the pandemic in each region," adds García.
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.