Judging from the pictures of mask-donning people in Beijing, Tokyo, Milan – and now here in the Pacific Northwest – we should all be buying face masks to protect ourselves against the new coronavirus. In recent weeks, they’ve become a symbol of the epidemic’s spread around the globe. But it’s a symbol that largely belies the scientific consensus. “Seriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS!” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams said in a tweet on Saturday.