Why weren’t we wearing masks at the start of the crisis?

The rise of the face mask has been one of the remarkable features of the later period of the Covid-19 epidemic. Yesterday, France announced that face coverings are going to become mandatory in workplaces where more than one employee is present. It is quite a cultural change for a country that previously banned face coverings in public.

Compulsory masks in shops are becoming the norm around the world – and in many cases the obligation now extends to the streets and other outdoor public places too. Until a few weeks ago, UK government advisers were very cool on face masks, with deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries suggesting they could even make things worse, by trapping the virus behind the mask. Figures released yesterday by marketing intelligence firm Kantar suggest that commercial interests were right to be wary of the effect on masks on their businesses — there were two million fewer visits to supermarkets in the last week of July than expected.