By Isabella Montenegro
Opinion Editor
Although the world is moving in a positive direction with COVID-19, mask use and social distancing is still required on campus to ensure the safety of the students and faculty. Therefore, Costa must be more harsh on instructing students on proper mask etiquette and on being socially distanced.
Since the pandemic hit world-wide in early 2020, schools had to shut down quickly to stop the spread of the disease and to keep students and faculty safe. Now, after over a year living in the pandemic, the efforts to end it have begun culminating in rapid success due to higher vaccination rates and the persistence of COVID-19 safety measures.
As the county of Los Angeles has hit the yellow “Tier 4”, signifying “minimal” spread of the virus, schools are able to open back up. One of the in-person requirements is proper mask wearing. Due to heightened in-person attendance, there has been an issue with proper mask wearing and social distancing. Students have been seen wearing masks under their nose instead of properly covering the nose area, with others seen wearing their masks below their chin with both their nose and mouth exposed. Students have also been seen groups higher than ten gathered together in small, compacted places. This demonstrates no type of social distancing, as students must be 3 feet away from others and in groups less than 10.
Costa should be enforcing proper mask etiquette and social distancing because the vaccine, although it has been greatly administered to the public, does not promise full protection. According to CNBC, there have been several documented cases of citizens who have received full vaccination and still contracted the virus, some even passing away. This proves how getting vaccinated will not guarantee you to never contract the virus or get harmed by it in any way. Subsequently, one cannot neglect all precautions taken to prevent contraction of the virus just because one has received the vaccine.
Costa needs to be imposing mask etiquette and social distancing due to the high risk of shutting down again. If the school is caught allowing students to wear masks improperly, and observes that social distancing is not being implemented anywhere on campus, the school could be taking steps backwards. Faculty, parents, and students have put in hard work to have students return to in-person learning for the rest of the semester. Thus, Costa being shutdown would be an extreme waste of much hard work.
One may argue that the world is far enough in the process of fighting this virus to lift the mask mandate for students, and make masks optional. Although vaccines have been brought out to the public to ages 12 and older, this is not a guaranteed protection from the virus. Others may say citizens should be more lenient on proper mask wearing and social distancing due to the fact these guidelines have been practiced for over a year. While this may be true, if the world stops now, valuable progress could be lost. Therefore, the school and world should continue to implement these measures to ensure the long lasting result of stopping the spread of COVID-19.
All things considered, proper mask etiquette and social distancing need to be enforced on a higher level to stop the spread of the virus on campus, to keep the faculty and students safe, and to avoid another indefinite school closure.
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