If you aren’t caught up with today’s current events, there is a pandemic going around the whole globe, affecting people of all ages, races, and genders. This pandemic has killed too many people. To help stop the spread of Covid-19, everyone over the age of 12 must wear a face covering to protect themselves and others.

Symptoms of this virus are different for everyone. Some may have flu-like symptoms to the point where they feel like they are about to die, and some others may feel nothing at all. I personally know somebody that had the virus and it was just like a really bad cold. Some argue that the face masks are unnecessary and don’t protect anyone, and some feel that they should be mandatory until Covid fades away. So now we have to ask ourselves the question: Masks–yes or no?

Though these masks can be tedious and very frustrating at times, my opinion is that face masks should

be required. It’s easy to say, “Oh I’m not going to get Covid! It’s not even that contagious,” until you or somebody you know gets it. Then, you are stuck in quarantine for 2 weeks wishing you could be spending time with your loved ones. It is selfish of people not to wear masks out in public because you could have the virus and not even know. You could give it to somebody that suffers from severe asthma and their symptoms could be life threatening. The Corona virus can be easily spread by respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. That is also why we must social distance when in a public area. We must take all precautions to stop the spread of the virus. In the beginning of quarantine nobody wanted to follow the rules and that caused our country to fall back a little bit.

Lauren Adam, a sixteen year-old high school student, has strong feelings about this issue.  She said, “I believe that masks should be mandatory, because how could we slow the spread without taking any precaution? I strongly believe the masks are irritating but also very helpful.” Lauren also agreed that when citizens don’t follow the mandate, it creates more cases all around the United States.

 Brianna Espaillat, a former student from Jamestown High School said, “I think that wearing masks in public at this time is unnecessary due to the amount of covid cases in the area. The government is lying to us about how many cases there actually are, and how many deaths there have been due to covid. Furthermore, people our age are less likely to pass the virus and our immune system would be able to fight it off quickly. I know many people personally who have got covid-19 and they only had a cough and it passed quickly. Wearing a mask is unnecessary for kids that have disabilities/and or need special attention. Masks reduce the risk of catching covid but only if they are worn 24/7.”

According to the Mayo Clinic website, wearing face covering in public areas is completely necessary. In Brianna’s argument, she stated that she believes that people our age are less likely to pass the virus. alhough the experts say that we pass it very easily. Most people our age don’t have any symptoms, therefore we don’t even know that we have it.