Quote:
Originally Posted by IcewindDude
In any case, Japan is the only country I've seen people commonly wear face masks out in public... I'm not sure whether it's when they are sick or they are worried about becoming sick, but that's something I'll probably never see in America.
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The secret to the face masks really has little to do with worrying about getting sick. The main reasons people wear the masks are because a) they want to avoid pollen due to allergies or b) they want to keep their snot from being visible when they have a runny nose. Remember - blowing your nose in public is a BIG no-no in Japan. And if you don`t blow your nose and just keep sniffling there is a chance you`ll "leak" to great embarrassment.
I`d say almost all the masks sold regularly have no virus blocking ability, and people know this. There are two main types - absorbent and pollen blocking.
