The Seventeenth Day: 8 April 2020 (60,733 confirmed infected, 7,097 died, in total)

"Fourteen transport workers have died in London after contracting the coronavirus." – Sadiq Khan

Unlike the Chinese way of “lock-down”, where all public transportation is suspended, the services for moving people in London have never been completely halted. Buses, trains, underground and Overground (similar to “city rail” in China, a light-rail service connecting downtown and suburban areas) are still operating with limited frequency and occasional suspension. This gives possibilities for those “key workers” to keep the city running.

However, as I mentioned days before, I saw bus drivers still not wearing face masks, not to say workers of rail services or underground. Maybe passengers are not so many on any single bus or in any carriage now, so that they can keep their “social distancing” practice; but buses and carriages are close-air space capable of detaining and exchanging dusts, droplets, and viruses. These public transportation vehicles can act as “hubs” for the virus to spread. Drivers and other workers on these “hubs”, though heroic and respectable, might become victims of the coronavirus, and even worse, bringing the disease to their families.

If it is inevitable to keep the public transportation running, at least the drivers and other workers who might get close to passengers shall be protected by facial masks and gloves. But sadly, there have been no even such basic protective measures for them, and deaths happened.

There is said to be a culture and habitual difference between Western and Eastern (mainly referred to Chinese) people in using a face mask: Westerners use face masks only when they are ill, to prevent spreading germs or virus to others, while Eastern people use them when others are ill, to keep oneself separated and safe.

Whichever of the above is correct is not important at the moment, for there is another more controversial question during this pandemic: is wearing a face mask efficient and necessary for stopping the spread of the virus?

The answer given by China is: yes, everyone shall wear a face mask, otherwise he is putting every other people in danger. In UK, experts gave a totally different answer: no, wearing a face mask is totally of no use in front of this virus, and it can even do harm to your health.

So we can see this image on the streets of London: people of European ethnic groups wear nothing on their faces, while all East-Asian ethnics putting on face masks, and Arabian and South-Asian ethnics twining their turbans or scarfs over their mouths.

I do not want to give a conclusion on which people are correct. But I am sure leaving drivers and other “key workers” without any protection must not be correct. It is not a common flu.