Who Wears the Face Mask? Preventive Measures Against COVID-19 in Latin America Before Vaccination

Abstract

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic outbreak imposed the use of the sanitary mask as a protective measure to reduce the spread of the pandemic, recommended by the World Health Organization. However, the use of the face mask has been uneven and determined by individual, regional, cultural, and political factors. Based on data from the Latinobarometer, we aim to understand the profile of people who used a mask in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 18 countries of Latin America, between October and November 2020, right before the mass vaccination campaigns. Results show that women, older people, those with higher education, being employed and not working in temporarily jobs, retirees, students, people with a centrist political ideology, and Catholics, had a higher chance of using a face mask on a regular basis. People living in Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica and Brazil were the most likely to use face masks. These results call attention to the need to understand social forces behind the willingness to adopt non-pharmacological preventive measures in order to make them more effective in health crisis emergencies.