Do You Need to Wear That Mask?
As concerns over the new coronavirus spread around the world, people have to make basic health decisions. They are wondering how worried they should be about getting infected and what they should do about it.
Some decision can have unexpected results however. For example, because of fears over getting infected, large numbers of people have bought masks to cover their faces. This led United States Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams to write this message on Twitter: "Seriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS"
He noted that masks are not effective in protecting the general public. The masks should be kept available for those who really need them. He added that "if healthcare providers can't get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!"
Different levels of concern not unusual
It is hard to know just how concerned people should be. Someone who lives near an area with many reported cases of coronavirus may be right to be more concerned than someone who does not.
But experts note that people do not only make decisions based on calculations.There are also emotional and psychological influences that play a part.
David Ropeik is an expert on risk who retired from Harvard University in Massachusetts. He said, "Emotions are the filtersthrough which we see facts."
Paul Slovic is a psychology professor at the University of Oregon. He said people's perception of risk can increase so that it becomes different from the advice of medical officials.
For example, less is known about the new coronavirus than the seasonal flu, which is blamed for far more deaths each year. But the new coronavirus is not fully understood and seems to be difficult to control.
Slovic said that because "there is no vaccine that can prevent it" and it spreads easily, news of the disease hurts our personal sense of control. He said our sense of risk increases when we do not feel like we know what to do to protect ourselves.
At the same time, the information that people are getting from the news and social media does not ease their concerns, Slovic said. He noted that reports place attention on people getting sick and dying and not on less serious cases.
To make matters worse, "everybody is telling everybody about it," Ropeik said. This increases the perceived risk.
Vincent Covello is director of the Center for Risk Communication, a business advisory group. He has a list of 17 psychological influences that people consider when they think about risk. For example, he said people worry more when they do not trust the officials or agencies in charge.
People also get more concerned about involuntary things, like exposure to an infected person than voluntary ones, like smoking or spending too much time in the sun.
Ropeik said people can reduce their risk of overreacting by not spreading news of every little development. "Don't just share the scary parts," he advised.
Finally, Ropeik said it is good idea to take a break from the 24-hour news. "Log off, put your phone down, pick up a book," he said.
你需要戴那个面具吗?
随着对这种新型冠状病毒的担忧在全世界蔓延，人们必须做出基本的健康决定。他们想知道自己应该对感染有多担心，应该做些什么。
然而，有些决策可能会产生意想不到的结果。例如，由于害怕被感染，很多人买了口罩来遮住他们的脸。这使得美国卫生局局长杰罗姆·亚当斯博士在推特上写道:“说真的，人们——不要再买口罩了。”
他指出，口罩并不能有效地保护公众。口罩应该保留给那些真正需要的人。他补充说，“如果医疗服务提供者不能让他们照顾病人，就会把他们和我们的社区置于危险之中!”
不同程度的关注并不罕见
很难知道人们应该多关心。居住在有许多冠状病毒报告病例的地区附近的人可能比不居住在该地区的人更应该受到关注。
但是专家指出，人们不仅仅是根据计算来做决定。还有情感和心理上的影响。
David Ropeik是马萨诸塞州哈佛大学退休的风险专家。他说:“情感是我们看到事实的过滤器。”
保罗·斯洛维奇是俄勒冈大学的心理学教授。他说，人们对风险的感知可能会增加，因此与医疗官员的建议会有所不同。
例如，人们对这种新型冠状病毒的了解还不如对季节性流感的了解，后者每年造成的死亡人数要多得多。但是新的冠状病毒还没有被完全了解，而且似乎很难控制。
斯洛维奇说，因为“没有疫苗可以预防这种疾病”，而且它很容易传播，所以有关这种疾病的新闻伤害了我们个人的控制感。他说，当我们不知道如何保护自己时，我们的风险感就会增加。
斯洛维奇说，与此同时，人们从新闻和社交媒体上获得的信息并不能缓解他们的担忧。他指出，报告关注的是人们生病和死亡，而不是不那么严重的病例。
更糟糕的是，“每个人都在告诉每个人这件事，”Ropeik说。这增加了感知风险。
Vincent Covello是商业咨询机构风险沟通中心的主任。他列出了人们在考虑风险时会考虑的17种心理影响。例如，他说，当人们不信任官员或主管机构时，他们会更加担心。
人们也更关心非自愿的事情，比如与感染者接触，而不是自愿的事情，比如吸烟或在阳光下待太久。
Ropeik说，人们可以通过不传播每一个小进展的消息来减少反应过度的风险。“不要只是分享可怕的部分，”他建议。
最后，Ropeik说从24小时新闻中休息一下是个好主意。“注销，放下手机，拿起一本书，”他说。
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Words in This Story
mask –n. something that covers part or all of the face
calculation –n. careful thought or planning through a process
filter –n. a device or process that removes something unwanted
perception –n. the way a person thinks about or understands something
involuntary –adj. not done by choice
scary –adj. causing fear
log off –n. to suspend a connection with a computer network
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