We went for a daytrip to Serra da Freita two days ago. It's a popular hiking area, not far from Porto, and the weather was great, so there were plenty of hikers around. Half of them were masked, despite the wide open landscape and sparse population in the area.
Today, two days later, we went for a walk along the boulevard by the sea. The weather was again fantastic, and the promenade was packed. But only 5% of everybody wore masks. The ones wearing masks were in such a minority that many were visibly embarrassed.
A likely explanation for this counterintuitive observation is that those who fear the virus seek places with low population densities. They go out of the cities for their fresh air. But they take their fears with them, and so we end up with a lot of people wearing masks in places with low population density, and many people ignoring the mask in places with lots of people.
The fearful keep away from places that have been taken over by the mask-less. Hence the disappearance of mask wearers in places like the City Park and seaside promenades, and the rise of mask wearing in places like the Serra da Freita, where Porto's fearful can hike in relative safety from the mask-less.
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| Serra da Freita |
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