Sir — Numbers indicate that, in the United States of America, it is mostly women who have been laid off as industries such as hospitality and leisure, which largely employ women, have been hit the hardest. It is unlikely that they will recover soon, opening up the possibility that workplaces might come to be dominated by men even more. The challenge will lie in reclaiming those spaces all over again.

Mrinalini Sengupta,

Calcutta

New normal

Sir — Although a number of influential faces remain unmasked, they will get away with offences as they are powerful, while ordinary people will not (“The mask returns”, May 9). The mask has become a site of conflict in other ways as well.

Many countries have embraced the potential of facial recognition to combat Covid-19 and have installed the requisite software and cameras. Even before the pandemic, China had reportedly had 200 million surveillance cameras installed nationwide. It was a major element in the Xue Liang (Sharp Eyes) programme, which ranks the trustworthiness of citizens and penalizes or credits them accordingly. The pandemic has opened the door for other countries to enact such measures as well.

Interestingly, as governments command citizens to wear face masks while venturing outside, face recognition softwares struggled to function properly, posing a critical problem for surveillance. However, a Chinese company has claimed to have overcome the problem by developing a facial recognition technology that can identify people even when they are wearing masks, as is the case these days with the spread of Covid-19. As countries begin to take surveillance of their citizens via facial recognition seriously, one can expect such technologies to develop far more rapidly and efficiently.

H.N. Ramakrishna,

Bangalore

Sir — While people around the world are mostly adhering to public health directives and donning masks when they go out, it has become a source of anxiety for many. The masked face has impersonalized social interactions as people can no longer observe the facial expressions of those they communicate with.

But many, especially in the US, have rejected masks by citing infringement of personal liberty and freedom of choice. It is, however, ironic that the same people are attacking others for exercising the right of choosing to wear masks in a bid to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Naveen Vaidya,

Ranchi