Photo/Illutration A typical Tokyo street scene as commuters head to work (Takuya Isayama)

A government move to further relax rules regarding face masks was bound to stir a spirited reaction among the public given that wearing facial coverings on trains as well as outdoors was customary long before COVID-19 hit, mainly as a courtesy to others during flu season and just as a general precaution.

The government has already said that face masks do not have to be worn outdoors as long as conversation is kept to a minimum, and preferably at a safe distance. It now appears set to lift the requirement on wearing face masks indoors.

Understandably, the decision is being keenly felt in schools across the country, triggering a mixed reaction from students and parents.

An 18-year-old senior high school student in Osaka Prefecture said she can hardly wait for the new rule to take effect. For almost the entire time she has attended senior high school, the rules called for wearing face masks. Her smartphone photo album is filled with shots of friends, all wearing face masks.

“I want to enjoy college life from spring without face masks,” she said.

A 39-year-old woman living in Fukuoka Prefecture on the main southern island of Kyushu whose children are of elementary school and kindergarten age said she favors removing face masks because she wants her kids to communicate with others while looking at the face of the other party.

Still, she is also concerned that not wearing face masks could lead to another surge in COVID-19 cases.

“I feel sorry for my children if nothing is changed, but I am also worried,” she said. “I don’t get the feeling that everyone will remove face masks.”

But a 13-year-old junior high school student in Osaka had a different take on the situation.

“I would be embarrassed to show my face from now,” she said. “Face masks are a necessity.”

People who have had serious illnesses are more worried about possible infection if people start dumping their face masks en masse.

Sei Kobayashi, 21, of Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, just east of Tokyo, had a bone marrow transplant when he was in senior high school to treat his acute lymphatic leukemia.

“I can understand why people want to remove face masks because so many have put up with the situation for so long,” Kobayashi said. “But I also feel fear when I think there will be an increase in the number of those who do not wear face masks.”

His doctor warned him he was at risk of developing serious symptoms if he became infected with COVID-19, so for the past three years he has worn a face mask even at home.

A 65-year-old man living in Nagoya who has diabetes said he felt it was too early to relax rules, especially since variant strains of the coronavirus have emerged one after another.

Yoshihito Niki, a visiting professor of infectious diseases at Showa University in Tokyo, said if the rule is relaxed it would be up to each individual to think seriously about whether different situations warranted wearing a face mask.

“What I am worried about is letting down one’s guard as discussions progress on not wearing face masks,” Niki said. “We are in the midst of the eighth wave of infections, with the medical care structure still under strain and the number of deaths from COVID-19 remaining at a high level.”

He added that it was the responsibility of the central and local governments to clearly state that removing face masks was a measure being considered for the future.

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