My confusion over the COVID-19 policy as of today
My hometown was not a great example of how to handle COVID-19; it fought bitterly to end its educational mask mandate. I remember hearing about a rally, talk about suing the state government, and rants by parents on Facebook. Nevertheless, for a while, the mandate remained, with the state government eventually lifting it. Those against the mandate seemed to have won in the end. But honestly, it hardly made a difference.
Those who complained about the mandate barely obeyed it to begin with, and the school did a poor job of enforcing it. What do I mean by this? —mask over the nose. A lot of people did not care to wear it that way. The school enforced it like a dress code; so long as the mask was simply on the face, you were all good.
But, having graduated high school, that is all behind me now. As for this past summer? Well, even I began caring less. People stopped talking about it, and people stopped masking. I, like many others, thought that the pandemic had become dormant. I still masked in some public areas, but other than that? No, I did not really care.
Now that I am at college, I have definitely been paranoid about it, and I feel like there are certainly other students who have been in a similar position as me. We are in a better place now, but a few weeks ago, the pandemic was particularly frightening.
I have found that Geneseo’s populace tend to make their decisions in the interest of public health, unlike the people back at home. Now these two places are in the same position where the students are left without systemic precautions.
Really, why do we not care about systemic precautions anymore? At the start of the school year, the virus was spreading at an unbelievable rate. Why did we not, at the very least, reinstate a mask mandate for classes? Why did we not bring back some systemic precautions?
Well, it has been almost three years since COVID-19 first surfaced and people are annoyed at the hindrances caused to daily life. There is a mindset that I think more people are adopting: “We have to live with it.” We cannot have systematic COVID-19 precautions in place forever, so we might as well get used to relying on our own judgment.
Two to three years ago, I used to think that you could get someone killed for not staying home or taking extreme precautions. Today, many people—even the COVID-conscious—have adjusted to this lack of systematic policy, and the concept of a freer lifestyle once again.
I have found myself included in this group. I do not judge people for not masking, nor this school for not mandating them, but I still judge my hometown even though it seems like we have all adopted their way, just remedied with a more considerate mindset.
Therefore, what was the point of the mask debate to begin with? The anti-mask side won, but seemingly only because time has passed to a point where nobody cares to enforce systematic precautions anymore. We must have had a lot more fear back then, but that does not change the fact that masks help combat the pandemic, so why has the debate lessened? Universal masking is simply better for public health. We used to argue that vehemently. Why have we been pushing for it less?
Many of us may still think that universal masking is ideal, and yet, we have grown tolerant of living without it. It seems we have simply been desensitized—we are learning “to live with it.” We mask when we feel we must, and that is all.
There is one aspect of this discussion I have yet to mention here—the circumstances of older people and people with pre-existing conditions. These people are at the greatest risk when it comes to COVID-19. They are all among us, whether we realize it or not. And yet, even those of us who are COVID-conscious may not mask around them.
That is certainly something to consider. When you choose whether or not to mask, make sure to think about others. You should absolutely not adopt the attitude of apathy towards the virus. Be selfless in your judgments.
I will end with one question—is this loosening of precautions an example of mass ignorance towards the virus, or rather, does it reflect our adaptation to the virus?