Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, believes as the country has entered into a stage of low prevalence of the novel coronavirus, wearing masks has now become an optional measure.
Zhang said recently at the 2023 Asia Youth Leaders Forum in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province that human beings have fully built up their immunity to COVID-19, and that China will soon emerge from this public health emergency.
As China's COVID-19 prevention has achieved a stable transition after downgrading management of the virus to a Class B infection, discussions have arisen whether it is still necessary to wear masks on public transport. Despite no compulsory requirements, experts still suggest passengers keep their masks on subway, trains and planes for the sake of public health, especially for vulnerable groups.
"Passengers will be recommended to wear masks when entering crowded subway stations for the sake of their health, but this is not a compulsory requirement," Guangzhou Metro in South China's Guangdong Province said on March 29 after netizens posted photos of people not wearing masks on the subway across social media platforms.
While subway stations in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Nanjing have removed compulsory requirements for passengers to wear masks, a Beijing MTR employee working in Beijing said they would still ask passengers to keep their masks on while on the subway and provide masks for those who forgot to bring them.
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