Italians wear them in a palette of colors. In the pandemic’s first year, FFP2s cost up to 10 euros ($11.50) - whenever they could be found. The government has ordered shops to make FFP masks available for 75 euro cents (85 U.S. People with booster shots or recent second vaccine doses can now avoid quarantine after coming into contact with an infected person if they wear a FFP2 mask for 10 days. In Italy, with more than 2 million people currently positive for the virus in a nation of 60 million and workplace absences curtailing train and bus runs, the government also sees masks as a way to let society more fully function. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced last week that people must wear FFP2 masks outdoors if they can’t keep at least two meters (6.5 feet) apart. The age for children to start wearing masks in public places was lowered to 6 from 11. In France, the outdoor mask mandate was partially re-instated in December in many cities, including Paris. Those places are currently closed under a lockdown until at least Friday, Jan. This week the Dutch government’s outbreak management team recommended a mask mandate for people over 13 in busy public indoor areas such as restaurants, museums and theaters, and for spectators at indoor sports events. Greece has also restored its outdoor mask mandate, while requiring an FFP2 or double surgical mask on public transport and in indoor public spaces. Portugal brought masks back at the end of November, after having largely dropped the requirement when it hit its goal of vaccinating 86% of the population. It’s science itself saying it because (it’s) a virus that is contracted when one exhales,” Sanchez said. After the 14-day contagion rate soared to 2,722 new infections per 100,000 people by the end of last week - from 40 per 100,000 in mid-October - Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was asked whether the outdoor mask mandate was helping. Spain reinstated its outdoor mask rule on Christmas Eve. “They see (masks) as an affront to their freedom,” D’Amico said, shrugging. “When you do the math, it costs far less than hospitalization.” When he sees someone from the unmasked minority walking by, he keeps a distance. “(Masks) cost little money, they cost you a small sacrifice,” he said. On a chilly morning in Rome this week, Lillo D’Amico, 84, sported a wool cap and white FFP2 as he bought a newspaper at his neighborhood newsstand. It had never lifted its indoor mandate - even when infections sharply dropped in the summer. Italy re-introduced an outdoor mask mandate. FFP2s also must now be worn at theaters, cinemas and sports events, indoors or out, and can’t be removed even for their wearers to eat or drink. That’s even though all passengers in Italy, as of this week, must be vaccinated or recently recovered from COVID-19. With Italy’s hospital ICUs rapidly filling with mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, the government announced on Christmas Eve that FFP2 masks - which offer users more protection than cloth or surgical masks - must be worn on public transport, including planes, trains, ferries and subways. Other countries are taking similar action as the more transmissible - yet, apparently, less virulent - omicron variant spreads through the continent. ROME: To mask or not to mask is a question Italy settled early in the Covid-19 outbreak with a vigorous “yes.” Now the onetime epicenter of the pandemic in Europe hopes even stricter mask rules will help it beat the latest infection surge.
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