Throughout the ongoing pandemic, many individuals have found the mandate that has been put in place since last March of wearing masks to be both inconvenient and unnecessary. Recently, Texas lifted the mask mandate for their residents, meaning that those who reside in Texas may go out into public freely without wearing a mask. This change has been quite controversial and has started a lot of conversation around whether lifting this mandate is going to affect the spread of COVID-19 as well as how the safety of citizens will be affected.

In my opinion, I believe that the mask mandate should stay in place in order to keep citizens healthy and safe during this pandemic. Lifting this mandate would mean that more citizens will take it as a sign that masks are no longer necessary for their safety and that the pandemic is coming to an end. However, the more people who choose to no longer wear a mask are putting themselves at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus. Masks help to provide a crucial barrier between the carrier and the person at risk, making it less likely for the person at risk of being exposed to actually “catch” the virus.

The question arises surrounding whether other states will also make the choice to lift the mandate. President Joe Biden has expressed his feelings by saying that the mask mandate must stay in place. In the end, it is up to the States to decide whether they will choose to keep this mandate or not.

As for right now, Pennsylvania still has the mask mandate in place. The pandemic will not come to an end without the help of citizens playing their part by wearing a mask and practicing safety precautions when going into public. This includes social distancing and practicing healthy habits such as hand washing and using hand sanitizer. With the newly introduced vaccinations, hopefully life will return to normal as we once knew it to be, but this cannot happen without citizens taking into consideration how their efforts to prevent the spread of the virus will affect others in the long run.