Covid-19: To Mask Or Be Unmasked That Is The Question
Jewel Hill
As states such as New York and Florida find themselves in a motion of becoming somewhat normal again, the controversy around whether there is an efficient means to protect ourselves is being pushed or not. We’ve been met with undoubtably serious questions as to how we go forward after being pushed to wear face masks in public areas. As mayors and governors figure out their way through their reopening process the media has not let up on how often we are met with talk of Covid.
Covid-19 or novel coronavirus is a contagious respiratory illness similar to the flu but much more deadly in its approach. It appears much more aggressively and is caused with a new strain or sars, SARS-CoV-2. The symptoms range from milk coughing, fever, or sore throat and can escalate to pneumonia. In it more severe cases we’ve bared witness to difficulty breathing and death. Its proven much more dangerously to the elderly and immune compromised community. This has lead to much younger people taking the severity lightly even after a state of emergency was assumed.
To combat the infectivity of Covid-19 there has been a swift law pushed for the use of surgical face mask or some form of cloth covering of the nasal/mouth area of the face. This alone caused many to be uneasy about the reality in which we tread within the pandemic. As we open things back up such as restaurants and such there have been an outcry to reverse the need for masks.
The effectiveness of masks have been studied and documents by the likes of universities like Duke. They specifically found information that draws belief that maybe some masks are not created equally. Some masks don’t do a great job of being a filter between the covid germs airborne and the wearers face. Masks like surgical ones and N95 respirators provided higher amounts of protection when compared to handkerchiefs and bandanas. We still have those who oppose the idea of wearing them though.
There has been no shortage to what we have been fed about COVID through media. Since the official labeling of this being a pandemic, we have been in unrest to hear what is next. Coverage of it has been extreme and overwhelming. As the people we are being force fed bad news about the pandemic on a large scale to the point viewers are simply turning their heads to the topic. When you begin to funnel in too much info there becomes an overstimulation where the receptors cannot receive anymore. It is believed the people are overstimulated receptors. We simply cannot take in any more information. With the election going on and debates becoming the forefront of news, its expected for the use of masks and severity of the pandemic to ramp up much further. The leader of the freeworld is in the process of possibly being interchanged in the midst of a world crisis, as the people much is to wonder about what steps each candidate is hoping to take with helping the country get back on its feet. There’s much hope that someone will make the right choice, but then we have to ask ourselves what is the right choice?
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