Donald Trump has not donned one. Emmanuel Macron boasted a small French flag on his. Slovakia’s president made a fashion statement by sporting a fuchsia-colored one to match her outfit.
As the world starts emerging from coronavirus lockdowns, political leaders are being closely scrutinized over their choice to wear a mask—or not—as many people question seemingly mixed messages about the value of face coverings as infection barriers.
Many Western governments counseled against face masks for the general public at the start of the outbreak, which has now claimed more than a quarter of a million lives worldwide.
But as people start returning to work despite the absence of a treatment or vaccine, masks are now being encouraged or even required as a critical anti-virus tool, along with hand washing and social distancing.
As government advice has changed, leaders have had to decide: to cover up or not?
READ: To mask or not to mask? World leaders scrutinized over face coverings
“The decision to wear or forgo a mask in public is based on what message the leader wants to convey,” behavioral scientist Jacqueline Gollan of Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, told AFP.
“They are more likely to wear a mask if the leader believes in promoting public health. They may forgo the mask if the leader believes that they should convey that the risk of transmission is low and things are normalized,” she said.
Some have started to appear in public in simple medical masks or more protective N95 or FFP2 masks, others are opting for the washable fabric ones that many governments are encouraging the public to wear.
But a handful, including US President Trump and Brazil’s leader Jair Bolsonaro, are bucking the trend and going about bare-faced.
Over 50 countries now require people to cover their faces when they leave home, especially on public transport and in shops.
But in many places, there are still not enough medical-grade masks to go around without eating into stocks needed to shield frontline doctors and nurses.
READ: Trump admits US reopening will cost more lives
In March, Slovakian leader Zuzana Caputova stole the limelight when she swore in a new government sporting a stylish fabric mask that matched her dress and shoes.
Trump, in contrast, has consistently flouted the advice of the US Centers for Disease Control to cover up in public.
This week, he visited a factory that makes masks but pointedly ignored signs at the facility urging: “Please wear your mask at all times.”
Instead, Trump sported a pair of clear goggles.
