The mask mandate is being removed all around California. Los Angeles County is lifting their mask mandate for indoor public places along with other parts of California, including the Bay Area.

Gavin Newsom’s order to lift the mask mandate for vaccinated individuals started Feb. 16. However, this shouldn’t be the case whether you’re vaccinated or not. People should keep their masks on whether they are indoors or in a setting with a lot of people around. 

COVID-19 cases had spiked high in January because of the Omicron variant. Almost 129,000 citizens tested positive at Omicron’s peak in California. The mask mandate being lifted so early after we have seen a rise doesn’t seem to help the cause of trying to end the pandemic. 

You can also see the mask as something that can prevent more than just COVID-19. Masks prevent allergies, the common cold, the flu and other viruses. Anything that can have some sort of impact on the body to make someone sickly, a mask can make a huge difference. 

In Asia, whenever someone would get sick they would wear a mask to contain the sickness. Japan, being one of the cleanest countries in the world, has people who will always have a mask on for the main reason of stopping the spread of a disease, an illness or even the common cold.

Being vaccinated helps, but it also doesn’t take you off the list of catching COVID-19. New variants like Omicron have infected people who have gotten the vaccine. The vaccine isn’t perfect, but getting the vaccine does lessen the effects of the virus if you’ve tested positive. Whether or not you are vaccinated, you should just have a mask on whenever around large groups of people or indoors.

As those around me have gotten COVID-19, I will always have a mask on. The other day someone I knew wasn’t around for an event we were planning and he told everyone he had COVID-19. That person was also fully vaccinated.

It goes to show how a mask, common sense and also spacial awareness can make a huge difference in stopping the spread of this virus and hopefully ending the pandemic as a whole. Things will go back to normal eventually, but for the time being people should wear their masks at all times.