In fact, so ingrained was the cultural resistance to masks that, as a security measure, France became in 2011 the first European nation to Jean-François Mattéi, a former health minister and the current president of France’s National Academy of Medicine, said that because of the cultural reluctance and budgetary problems, maintaining the national stockpile might have been pushed down the list of government priorities.In 2009, in face of the H1N1 pandemic, France had amassed 1.7 billion masks, but stocks had fallen to 150 million at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent “This decision was absurd, and we’re seeing the consequences now,” said Philippe Juvin, the head of the emergency department at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.Faced with shortages, which it first denied, the French government discouraged people from wearing masks, saying only the sick should wear them in public and that they were otherwise not useful.But the recommendations not only failed to convince French people who thronged pharmacies in search of masks, but they also conflicted with images of President Emmanuel Macron wearing a mask when he visited a military field hospital in eastern France on March 25.Though the French government has yet to make masks mandatory, powerful groups, like the Academy of Medicine, have Mr. Mattéi said that wearing masks during epidemics was likely to “become the norm” in Western countries after the end of the pandemic, adding, “I’m convinced that pretty soon everyone in a family will have their two or three reusable face masks.”Daniel Illouz, a pharmacist in eastern Paris, said that he had been skeptical of the government’s repeated message that widespread mask-wearing was not helpful in fighting the epidemic.“I don’t see why in all the Asian countries, where they have masks, it would work, but it wouldn’t work for us,” he said.Reporting was contributed by Aurélien Breeden and Eva Mbengue from Paris; Miroslava Germanova from Bratislava, Slovakia; Hana de Goeji from Prague; Christopher F. Schuetze from Berlin; and Boryana Dzhambazova in Sofia, Bulgaria.Mask-Wearing Is a Very New Fashion in Paris (and a Lot of Other Places)Outside the Louvre in Paris before the national lockdown started in March.Christian Montgomery wearing a surgical mask to prevent contracting the coronavirus while taking out money at an ATM in the East Village in New York.

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that the change would require a “big adjustment” because “masks are alien to our culture.”But masks were also alien to Asia until it was struck by the SARS pandemic in 2003.In Japan, after people got used to masks, they continued to wear them against seasonal allergies or to protect one another from germs. Images of Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova wearing a crushed raspberry pink mask matching her outfit to the new prime minister’s swearing-in ceremony in March went viral on Twitter.

And some parts of Europe are moving faster than the United States by requiring masks instead of simply recommending their use.This week, Austria moved to become the fourth European nation to require masks in public, after the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey.In France, a strong belief that the French would culturally reject the practice — and confidence that masks could be imported quickly if needed — has contributed to a desperate shortage. AFP Comparée à Macron, la militante anti-corruption de 45 ans a obtenu 58,38% des voix selon des résultats partiels. During the swearing-in ceremony of a new government, President Zuzana Caputova wore a red one that matched her dress, helping to remove the stigma.The mass mobilization in both countries reinforced what experts say is a crucial factor in fighting any epidemic: solidarity.“When we both have a face mask, I protect you, you protect me,” said a Czech actress in a widely shared Slovakia and the Czech Republic were quicker to embrace face masks, experts said, in part because of their Communist legacy’s emphasis on collectivism.“People simply learned to be obedient in critical moments,” said Michal Vasecka, a sociologist at the Bratislava Policy Institute.By contrast, in France, where a sense of individualism is stronger, even government officials were long pessimistic about the adoption of mask-wearing against potential epidemics. During the swearing-in ceremony of a new government, President Zuzana Caputova wore a red one that matched her dress, helping to remove the stigma.

Photo: ReutersFrance’s President Emmanuel Macron showed civic responsibility and style can go together when he wore a cloth face mask matching his suit, and with a ribbon in the colours of the French flag, during a visit to a school in Poissy, France. Si tous portaient des masques basiques de couleurs blanc ou bleu, la Présidente Zuzana Caputova elle avait pris soin d'assortir son masque à sa robe, couleur framboise. Zuzana Čaputová, 45 ans, est devenue la première femme à la tête de la Slovaquie à l’issue du second tour de la présidentielle, samedi 30 mars. Zuzana Caputova lors d'un débat avant le premier tour de l'élection présidentielle slovaque, à Bratislava, le 11 mars 2019. Vladimir Simicek, AFP The goal, motivate people to do the same. “You’re showing others that you’re abiding by social etiquette, and so people feel reassured.”The debate over masks has focused on the divide between the West and Asia. Though neither was used to it, people across both countries mobilized by sewing masks at home, often giving them away to doctors, nurses and shop assistants or leaving them on their doors or gates to offer to passers-by.In Slovakia, television anchors and politicians took the lead, wearing masks in studios and outside.