The Removal of Masks is Being Treated Too Carelessly
On Wednesday, March 2, Hofstra University president Susan Poser sent out a school-wide email stating that effective Monday, March 7, masking will be completely optional in all indoor areas on campus.
There is no denying that masks will not be a permanent fixture of society. We are fortunate enough to be present in a time where COVID-19 has become significantly less fatal and cases seem to be trending down. But we’ve seen this before. Things start to look better; normalcy sits just on the horizon; and time and time again we are set back due to a major lapse in judgment: removing mask requirements too soon.
It seems that just when things are looking good, the government relaxes mask mandates, only to immediately necessitate a reinstatement a few weeks later due to a rise in cases. Cautious people like myself will have to accept that masks won’t be around forever – and I don’t want them to be around forever. But if we want to move forward and out of this pandemic, the best decision would be to mandate masks for a little while longer. As things begin to look safe, we need to make sure that they will stay safe before jumping the gun and lifting restrictions. At the very least, we should wait until the spring when we’ve exited flu season and more people can spread out and be outside. It’s not that I’m entirely opposed to removing masks, but the process of doing so should be treated more delicately.
Some may argue that masking should be unnecessary due to everyone on campus being vaccinated and boosted. But COVID-19 is still very much transmissible. Luckily, COVID-19 symptoms are typically slim to none among the fully vaccinated, but that does not take into account the effects of “long COVID-19” – symptoms that can be much more persistent than the initial cold-like symptoms and could potentially manifest into long-term chronic health issues. The lifting of mask mandate also poses many concerns for immunocompromised people on campus who are still vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19 despite being vaccinated.
One of the main concerns regarding the lifting of the mask mandate is that it applies to classrooms. Many classes are held in tiny, stuffy, windowless rooms that are physically impossible in which to maintain social distancing. Having a bunch of students crammed in a tight space without masks is a recipe for causing illness, COVID-19 or otherwise, to spread.
This is not the gradual process that was originally promised when the mask restriction lift began with residence halls and the Mack Arena. The hasty removal of the mask mandate all over campus will most certainly lead to an increase in cases, which could hold a lot of students back academically if they have to quarantine, given how difficult it is to catch up online.
It’s been said for months that COVID-19 will not go away and that we will have to learn to live with its permanent social effects. While the shift to normalcy is certainly welcome, COVID-19 should not yet be treated like “any other illness” until we can combat it as such.
