Masks have been a constant fixture in society since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more than two years, wearing a mask has been required in most places, and people are understandably getting tired of them. As new variants of the virus have popped up and caused panic and acceptance alike, the rules surrounding mask mandates have changed and evolved. Now, as the holiday surge from the more transmissible but mild Omicron variant ends, questions surrounding the end of the mask mandate are bubbling up.
Mask-wearing has been required indoors in school since the start of the 2021-22 school year. Teachers and students alike have complained about masks for many reasons, including difficulty communicating and difficulty recognizing people’s faces. Masks are often seen as hindrances in interpersonal interaction, and the school’s population has been patiently waiting for the end of COVID-19 and mask mandates.
On Feb. 6, an announcement sent out to all Californians stated that vaccinated people would be able to go maskless in most indoor settings, effective starting Feb. 16. Additionally, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington issued a statement together on Feb. 28 saying that the mask mandate in schools would be lifted after March 11, and masks would only be “strongly recommended” in school settings. With this announcement, the District sent out an email dispatching the information about the new policy, and adding that it will wait for further guidance from San Mateo County before changing District guidelines.
“Safety for all should be society’s number one concern”
However, ending the mask mandate too soon will undoubtedly lead to another surge, as masks block possible COVID-19-carrying particles, such as small droplets of spit. Even though people can still get COVID-19 while wearing masks, masks heavily mitigate COVID-19’s spread.
A study conducted by researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health from April 2021 found that almost all of the 15 states without a mask policy had very high rates of COVID-19, while the eight states that had more than 75% of the general population wearing masks had much lower rates of COVID-19, demonstrating a direct inverse correlation between masks and COVID-19 rates. With this information, ending the mask mandate when COVID-19 is still rampant is not a good idea. Furthermore, children under 5 years old still cannot get vaccinated. Ending the mask mandate means parents and siblings could easily contract and bring COVID-19 home to vulnerable young children.
Additionally, the issue of people who are against vaccination also comes into play. Masks may be deemed optional for people who are vaccinated in certain indoor spaces such as malls, but checking whether people actually are vaccinated may be seen as an invasion of privacy. This dilemma can easily lead people who are against both masks and vaccination to bring COVID-19 to public spaces. Similarly, in areas with low vaccination rates, herd immunity may not be built up and COVID-19 will spread significantly faster in such areas.
Of course, keeping the mask mandate will continue daily inconveniences such as muffled speaking and glasses fogging up. However, safety for all should be society’s number one concern and should trump small inconveniences.
There are valid arguments about how the mask mandate is no longer needed due to high vaccination and natural immunity rates, as well as a decline in new COVID-19 cases, but the risks surrounding the end of the mask mandate are too great, especially for babies, the elderly and the immunocompromised.
