However, emotional messages conveyed by social-distancing symbols may not be the same across countries – or even within them. “In the US, social-distancing markers are contentious,” says Mindy Thompson Fullilove, a professor of urban policy and health at The New School in New York City, referencing the way that masks and social distancing have been at the centre of a heated debate on civil liberties in the country. “They can be a source of comfort to some, but irritate others.”
