COVID-19 has ravaged our lives for a full year. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs, their homes, their security, their loved ones and their lives.
Weber State University nursing student Necia Wallenmeyer will give Lorna Ricks a COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday, March 16, in Ogden, Utah. (Brooklynn Kilgore / The Guide)
The CDC recommends that people wear masks in public places and wherever they are in close proximity to people. From the very beginning, when this directive was introduced, people fought against it with all their might.
We have all seen the viral videos of people in supermarkets refusing to leave the store to put on a mask, and some of these incidents escalate into physical assault on employees just trying to get their jobs done and the rules that apply and enforce policies in place. There have been various posts about how wearing masks “violates” a person’s constitutional rights that I roll my eyes to.
Now I understand why people don’t wear masks. Personally, I think they can be uncomfortable and annoying, but what I don’t understand is the apparent disregard and disrespect for those around you. The masks are not necessarily for your protection, but to protect other people. As much as I dislike the way masks feel, I still wear mine every time I’m with people I don’t live with because I don’t know if I have COVID and I do don’t want to give it to someone else if it just happens that I’m asymptomatic.
I was in a cafe the other day and there was a man walking around the store, visiting other customers, and marketing his business by handing out cards. When he came to me, I noticed that he wasn’t wearing a mask, which I found annoying, but also didn’t immediately bandage. I let him walk in line in front of me and heard the barista tell him she couldn’t serve him if he wasn’t wearing a mask.
He went on to argue with her, claiming that he “just left it in his car” and that “she couldn’t hurry and prepare his drink, he wouldn’t be in the store long”. She told him again that he had to wear a mask or he would not be served. He didn’t like that answer and kept arguing. It wasn’t until another barista came by and told the man to leave or he would file a report that the man stopped arguing. Finally the man turned around, looked at me and said, “You can go on, they are bothering me.”
This whole situation was ridiculous. The man knew he had to wear a mask; There were signs everywhere saying the cafe needed them. We have been in this pandemic for a full year. Putting on a mask is not that difficult and it doesn’t hurt anyone to wear one.
Weber State is offering COVID-19 testing in Ballroom C of the Shephard Union building in Ogden, Utah on November 10. (BriElle Harker / The Signpost) Photo credit: Signpost Archives
However, this scene, just one of many across the country, made me realize that as the vaccination rate increases and the number of cases decreases, we will see this behavior even more frequently, especially because Gov. Spencer Cox is most likely to sign a bill that would end the nationwide mask mandate on April 10th.
States in the US have lifted their mask mandates as more people get vaccinated, and Utah is expected to be one of the newest countries to do so. Utah legislature has already passed this bill and is just waiting for Cox to sign the bill. Originally, the mandate would have been lifted immediately after Cox signed the law, but Cox told Deseret News that he was pushing for April 10th as it would allow more people to be vaccinated.
I still think April 10th is way too early. Our positive case rate has dropped significantly, but there are still too many people who haven’t had a chance to get fully vaccinated. This will lead to a further spike in cases like the one we saw over the winter vacation that we are recovering from.
Cox said that bill would still make it mandatory for K-12 schools to require masks, and companies can continue to charge them however they want. Even so, it would be better to keep the original mandate and not cancel it before the original end date of July 1st. This would give the majority of people ample time to get vaccinated, reducing our risk of massive spikes in cases again and would allow us to better avoid a third wave of cases.
This new bill feels irresponsible and rushed. I understand that everyone is fed up with the pandemic and all the protocols in place, but we also need to think carefully about how quickly we start to temper these protocols and mandates. If we stop needing masks and social distancing too soon, everything will go to hell and we will see a huge increase in cases and deaths.
COVID-19 tests will be conducted at Weber State University on November 10th. (BriElle Harker / The Signpost) Photo credit: Signpost Archives
Granted, it might not be as high as it would be without vaccines, but are we really ready to take that risk? Are we really ready to risk another year in this pandemic? And are we really ready to risk new variants that emerge and kill another half a million people?
Right now is a crucial moment in this pandemic. Vaccines are successfully introduced; Our cases are clearly on the decline. If we loosen up too soon, we will regret it, and it will haunt us as much as the holiday season has for months.
Cox has until March 25 to decide whether to sign the bill or veto the bill, and while it doesn’t look like he is vetoing it, he has to do so to protect us all.
Vaccines for people aged 16 and over will be available starting March 24th. If Cox rejects that bill, or even pushes the date back a month or two, we will have plenty of time to improve the vaccination distribution and get more of the people who leave us in a better position.
Over 500,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States. Isn’t that enough Wasn’t one enough? Why does our lawmaker believe this is not the case? We should take all possible precautions to protect those who survived the past year and honor those who did not.
Share:
[feather_share show=”twitter, facebook, mail” hide=”reddit, pinterest, linkedin, tumblr, mail”]
Comments are closed.