Has the end of the mask come? In Europe it was in the last season

I prepare my bags, I prepare a couple of extra face masks for the flight of just over 10 hours to Madrid, I make sure that, if I forget something, it is not my passport, my vaccination certificate against Covid-19 or my wallet.

I leave for the International Airport of Mexico City where, by the way, it is still not clear whether or not you can walk without a face mask. But most people are wearing one, sometimes poorly or sometimes around the neck like a scarf, but masks are still part of most outfits.

A few weeks ago, some Mexican entities began to make the voluntary use of masks official, both in open places and in closed spaces, the capital was one of them. It seems strange to forget the habit – which we created for a little over two years – of wearing a mask for basically any activity that involved leaving the house.

But since I got off the first plane, to wait for my next flight to Brussels, I realized that this custom that I have is part of an almost distant past for Europeans. Madrid Barajas Airport is huge, it connects flights to and from all continents, we are many people, but I can barely see three with face masks.

I arrive in Brussels and the same story, it is as if that accessory so sought after and valued just a year ago, had been buried in past fashion festivals. Now the trend is different.

“The mask is not mandatory, but if you feel more comfortable you can use it, anyway everyone here is vaccinated with four doses against Covid-19,” a friendly person tells me as I enter a restaurant. Either way, her kindness couldn’t dispel the amazement with which she watched me wear my mask.

In this space of the world, the priorities are different. It is not that Covid-19 decided to leave Europe, but that some other issues arrived, mainly Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented acceleration in energy prices.

I get on the subway to get to the place where I have to be in half an hour, and exchanging words, a person who this fall has been very special in Brussels, it’s not cold and the sun even comes out. That’s good news for this part of the world where you regularly have to live with heating between now and late winter.

And, although due to the seasonal season, just at this time of year, viral diseases rebound, the mask is definitely not anyone’s favorite anymore. With their faces uncovered, the smiles, the handshakes and the typical double-kiss greeting of the Spanish and Italians also returned.

Is the pandemic already over? Have we already learned to live with this bug? Should we continue to wear face masks for hygiene? Should it be a voluntary decision or not?

Many questions remain regarding what the sanitary measures are or should be in this new stage, where it seems that the worst is behind us. The truth is that comparisons between countries, societies and cultures will always be biased, because their compositions are also different.

The health system, transportation networks, pollution levels, food, access to basic services or population density all influence the monitoring of massive habits such as wearing a mask to protect ourselves from bacteria, viruses or any another toxic particle circulating in the air.

Now, as in Europe and many other countries in the world, in Mexico you can choose whether to wear the mask or not.