Facial condoms

In certain east Asian countries the wearing of surgical masks in public spaces has become an outward emblem of an inner sense of community responsibility.

In Guatemala you can make the wearing of mascarillas compulsory from one day to the next, but you cannot so easily change the culture overnight. Social responsibility is just not such a biggie here.

Furthermore, although I support the widespread use of masks from a culturally-neutral perspective, it is more than obvious that here they may be encouraging some complacency about social distancing — for it's hard not to conclude that some people in the larger molotera spaces around town are starting to act as if they have been vaccinated.

And the process of distribution has created artificially large crowds.