All of us must keep our masks on

We are either a nation of disciplined people – or a bunch of liars. According to a survey, 73% of South Africans said they always wore masks outdoors.

In comparison to a number of other countries, those numbers are really good. While the general feeling is that the majority of the people adhere to the law and wear masks, especially while shopping and at work, a drive around Gauteng will turn that statement on its head, with many ignoring the call completely or wearing masks incorrectly.

The data of the Covid-19 Democracy Survey, conducted by the University of Johannesburg and the Human Sciences Research Council, comprised 10 115 respondents for the first round, between April and May, and 2 570 respondents for the first phase of the second round, between 3 and 17 July.

Interestingly, the second round of the survey found that this number increased in July, compared with the first round between April and May, where only 48% of people adhered to wearing masks.

“This is impressive if we compare the figure to the US, where a survey [by Gallup] showed that only 47% of Americans are wearing masks in an outdoor setting and the number goes up with indoor settings,” said the director of the centre for social change at UJ, Professor Kate Alexander.

However, she did note the adherence varied among higher and lower-income earners, with 87% of people that earned an individual monthly income of R20,000 more likely to always be wearing masks in public, while that only applied to 67% of those who earned less than R1,000 a month.

The survey revealed 83% of suburban people wore masks, compared to 70% of people living in townships. We must keep wearing masks.

Our recovery rate may be sitting at 83% and, cautiously, we believe we may be over the peak, but there’s still a long way to go.

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