"The patient's illness isn't airborne. The smell in the room is pretty strong, anyway, so there's no point in a mask," Zheng Ren replied, deadpan.
When that happened, everyone would know which room it was.
The rooms were all ventilated. Sometimes they were crowded with family, leading to a drop in air quality but never a strong smell.
The tetanus patient was from the countryside, where hygiene standards were lower than in the city. In addition, the door and windows were tightly shut, causing the room to stink unbearably.
Every doctor who made their rounds expected others to put masks on, but no one did.
They were aware of the implications of doing so
The patient's family would notice that doctors only wore masks when entering their room. It would be hurtful.