It’s not political: wear a mask

Courtesy Photo

By ALISSA SPANGLER

Staff Reporter

Many aspects of the Coronavirus pandemic have been turned into political debates that have divided the country. yet one thing that experts have unanimously decided is that masks help prevent the spread of Covid-19. There are many people who try to use the Constitution as an argument against having to wear a mask. However, the Constitution says that our freedom ends when we begin doing harm to others.

The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control along with many top medical schools have provided research that shows that wearing masks will certainly prevent a substantial percentage of people from succumbing to the illness.

As I write this, the United States has 274,000 deaths from the virus, trending at 2,000 per day. That may not mean much to some, but imagine if it were affecting you. There are so many heart-wrenching stories every single day of deaths. Imagine if someone you loved died because you gave them a virus that they were not strong enough to fight because you refused to wear a mask.

If the deaths are not enough to make someone change their behavior, maybe the strain on our health care system will. The smallest ways we can combat the virus are by mask-wearing and social distancing, but health care workers are pushed to their limits every single day caring for COVID-19 victims on top of regular patient care. Hospitals are pushing their capacity and resorting to airlifting patients to hospitals thousands of miles away.

It is not often that I see someone protesting having to wear a shirt to a grocery store. It is not often I hear someone complain about being required to wear shoes when going into a restaurant. The argument that you do not have to wear a mask because “it is not a law” holds just as little weight. If you believe it is your personal freedom to not wear a mask, you are right. However, if you refuse to wear a mask you should stay at home where the only person you are putting at risk is yourself.

There are some valid medical reasons for not wearing a mask, but if you have a breathing problem that barring masks, maybe you should not be in public during a pandemic in the first place. Everyone should be wearing masks in public, it should not be a political argument.

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