Bring the Mask Mandate Back
A discarded blue mask outside of Godinez Fundamental High School campus. Photo taken on March 16, 2022.
March 23, 2022
On March 7, 2022, Superintendent Jerry Almendarez announced that on March 14, 2022, the mask mandate will go from required to highly recommended for staff, students, and community members in the Santa Ana Unified School District. There will be no clear distinction between those vaccinated and unvaccinated.
This decision was reached due to decreasing COVID-19 cases across Santa Ana along with lower hospitalization rates.
Although it’s a nice change of pace to go back to some normalcy after over two years of being in a pandemic, the mask mandate should stay in place.
There may not be as many COVID-19 cases as before, but the virus is still here.
As of March 4, 2022, the O.C. Health Care Agency reported on an average week they have a 9.8 case rate per 100,000 and 4% of people testing positive. It is still too soon for masks to come off when there are still people catching the virus.
Algebra II teacher Linda Solval believes the mask mandate is necessary to keep herself, her family, and students safe.
“For me, I come into contact with a lot of people who are immunocompromised. I feel more comfortable knowing that at least something is being done,” said Solval.
She will be continuing to wear a mask in the classroom. Hopefully, this will encourage her students to keep theirs on.
Not only does the mask mandate protect us, but many other methods should stay in place as well.
A senior who wishes to remain anonymous stressed the importance of safety precautions.
“The virus is still out there and we can’t risk lowering our guard. I’m still going to use hand sanitizer,” they said.
For junior Katie Tran, she is concerned about the ever-increasing death rate in the United States.
“People are still dying from it. I don’t want to spread it to people in my family,” said Tran.
She will also continue to wear her mask in the classroom.
So how long should the mandate stay?
Assistant Principal Jevon Davis perspective is cautiously optimistic.
“I wouldn’t say the mask mandate should stay forever, but I totally understand why it was put in place. It was very much needed to slow down the spread of infections around the state, country, and world,” said Davis.
Davis will not wear a mask while alone in his office or outside, but will continue to be aware of how close he is to people. The only exception is when a teacher or student approaches him and they are close, then he will wear his mask.
COVID-19 still exists and is still causing harm. There should be no excuse for not taking safety precautions when there are cases all over the United States.
According to SAUSD’s weekly COVID-19 Dashboard & Statistics, there have been only two cases at Godinez Fundamental High School as of March 21, 2022.
Will there be an increase in cases without masks? Or will everything turn out just fine?
Only time will tell.
In the meantime, I will wear my mask to keep myself and everyone around me safe.
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Elvis Canal • May 18, 2022 at 8:24 pm
“This decision was reached due to decreasing COVID-19 cases across Santa Ana”, I feel like with students not wearing their masks the virus can become RAMPANT again. Then we would have to go through the whole pandemic again because students are not wearing their masks. I like how the school is doing weekly covid tests but I feel it would be better if the mask mandate was back.
Orlando J Alcaraz • May 10, 2022 at 1:55 pm
“Your good health is your greatest wealth”- app space. There was an announcement that in a couple of days, we may take our masks off making people nervous about the reaction others will have to see their bare faces. There were uprising arguments that some won’t take their mask off because of the precaution against the virus and fear of their families getting seriously sick. Some argued back that it was ok because of cases of infected people decrease and that they’re tired from wearing a mask. But I agree that some people should keep their masks for a little longer if they have elder or sick relatives they meet or live with within their house. For example, “As of March 4, 2022, the O.C. Health Care Agency reported on an average week they have a 9.8 case rate per 100,000 and 4% of people testing positive”. From my perspective, I don’t like masks because it is uncomfortable and it bothers my skin and eyes, but wearing it improves my chance of not getting sick or positive for Covid-19. “Regret can be considered a life lesson, but sometimes it may not be” – Willson. Sometimes risks aren’t worth taking if they will hurt you and is permanent in your life. This is why I remind myself and people that the pandemic is an indiscriminate virus and will go after any age.
Blanca Mendiola • May 5, 2022 at 7:43 am
Although majority of the student still wear their masks, I feel like it wouldn’t change much bringing back the Mask Mandate. “There may not be as many COVID-19 cases as before, but the virus is still here. ” Covid-19 cases started decreasing when we started wearing masks and ways to avoid spread of the virus. Without the masks it can slowly start to increase and going back to where we started. “I wouldn’t say the mask mandate should stay forever, but I totally understand why it was put in place. It was very much needed to slow down the spread of infections around the state, country, and world,” I agree with Mr. Davis because we cant live with masks for the rest of our lives but we should be careful and where them in crowded places. Although masks can IRATE people its better to be cautious.
Angel • May 4, 2022 at 10:12 pm
The mask mandate should be brought back. I still wear my mask all day while in school; I was thinking about taking it off but after reading this article I’m not sure. The article states that “March 4, 2022, the O.C. Health Care Agency reported on an average week they have a 9.8 case rate per 100,000 and 4% of people testing positive”. This means that everyone is still at risk of catching Covid-19 so we need to keep our mask on. Even though some kids LOATHE the mask mandate we should bring it back. The article also states that “The virus is still out there and we can’t risk lowering our guard”. I believe this is true we can’t risk having Covid cases in our school.
Andrew • May 3, 2022 at 7:49 am
The issue regarding masks was never really a problem for me. Now that’s it technically over a good amount of people still choose to keep them on. While some keep it on because they feel some sort of CHAGRIN because of their looks others feel sweet relive of not having the INFAMOUS mask moisture in what was an OBSOLESCENCE of a mask. However as the article states they help keep us and others safe from the virus. However while the article says it should be reinstated I disagree as those without it are usually those who are vaccinated. While they can still act as spreaders a good amount of the local population is vaccinated to where we could say we have herd immunity.
Eric Angeles • Apr 11, 2022 at 1:09 am
The new mask mandate doesn’t really affect me, but bringing it back the old mandate wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. I still wear my mask almost all the time. Although the COVID-19 cases across Santa Ana aren’t as RAMPANT as before, the virus is still here. The article states “As of March 4, 2022, the O.C Health Care Agency reported an average week they have a 9.8 case rate per 100,00 and 4% of people still testing positive.” This means that it is probably best if we still keep our masks on since there are still people catching the virus. A student also stated “The virus is still out there and we can’t risk lowering our guard.” This is something I totally agree with because if we all lower our guard, cases may go back to increasing at a fast rate.
Adrian Gonzalez • Apr 1, 2022 at 12:22 pm
As a student I don’t really mind taking off the mask mandate but, after reading this article I can see why bringing the mandate back could be better for everyone. In the article it states, “As of March 4, 2022, the O.C. Health Care Agency reported on an average week they have a 9.8 case rate per 100,000 and 4% of people testing positive. It is still too soon for masks to come off when there are still people catching the virus.” I can agree that yea the mask mandate was probably removed too soon, and should’ve probably stayed for the remainder of this year. The majority of people still wear masks and bringing the mask mandate wouldn’t be as terrible as the majority wear it and I wouldn’t mind at all. In the article it also states, “Algebra II teacher Linda Solval believes the mask mandate is necessary to keep herself, her family, and students safe” this shows that people still feel the need to keep their family safe, and if its to protect people then we should bring the mask mandate back at least for this year. Overall we need to be VIGILANT and careful and bringing the mask mandate wouldn’t be as terrible, as many people mostly wear the mask anyways.
Cristian Lorenzo • Apr 1, 2022 at 12:20 pm
Now that the RAMPANT Covid-19 cases are low in Santa Ana and it has became much safer to have masks off, I might be taking my mask off from time to time. I agree with Jevon Davis´s quote “I wouldn’t say the mask mandate should stay forever, but I totally understand why it was put in place…¨ because people just want the pandemic to be over and having the mask mandate lifted does bring back some normality. I also CONCUR with Linda Solval´s quote ¨For me, I come into contact with a lot of people who are immunocompromised…¨ because people won´t be able to tell if the person next to them is vaccinated or unvaccinated, especially if their mask is on or off. I still fear that the Coronavirus can mutate into something much deadlier than before. These are part of the reasons why I still have my masks on and have a hard time deciding whether to take it off or not.
Rafael Alvarez • Apr 1, 2022 at 12:04 pm
When the superintendent decided to finally QUELL the mask mandate, it was a CONSTERNATION to many students and teachers. Many students and teachers had gotten used to wearing a mask every school day. Like Ms. Solval, they knew that they were in “‘…contact with a lot of people…”. Many students have decided to keep on wearing their mask. Many teachers have explained that showing your face became an insecurity to many students. In many cases, it is true. In other cases, like Katie Tran, people are “concerned about the every increasing death rate…” of this rampant virus that put us out of schools for almost 2 years.