Whenever I see someone inside without a mask for no apparent reason, my first reaction is fear. Sure, I get scared for myself, but more so, I worry for others in my life. I worry for my niece and nephews who are too young to get vaccinated. I worry for the students of unvaccinated teachers. I worry for those stuck in COVID-19 hotspots doing everything they’re supposed to do even when it’s not enough.
My second reaction is anger. How could someone be so selfish so as to put themselves above everyone else? Masks are a minor inconvenience at most and have the power to save someone’s life.
Were this situation posed to people so simply, I’d hope that everyone would choose to wear a mask. Since this, unfortunately, isn’t the case, I’m pressed to write about it here.
There was a spike in Harrisonburg’s COVID-19 cases near the end of August and early September when universities were beginning the school year.
Despite this, cases seem to have been declining since then with a growing amount of the population getting vaccinated. On Oct. 22, 2021, the City of Harrisonburg recorded a total of seven new cases. Perhaps you’re thinking cases are unimportant; someone could have COVID-19 and be totally fine. But in the past two weeks alone, Rockingham County has experienced 12 deaths due to COVID-19.
The Delta variant introduces a new web of complicating factors into this already touchy subject. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this variant is “more than two times as contagious as previous variants.” Additionally, vaccinated people can actually transmit the Delta variant to others. While vaccinated people don’t seem to pass it on for as long as unvaccinated people do, it’s still a very real occurrence and one that could be prevented with masks. There are people in nearly all of my classes that don’t wear their mask correctly or don’t wear it at all. Claiming to not know the correct way to wear a mask is no longer a viable excuse to not have both your nose and mouth fully covered.
I’m most frustrated with my professors and other EMU staffers that see the COVID-19 guidelines being broken and choose to say nothing about it. I agree that students play a huge role in this too, but EMU’s faculty and staff have a responsibility to keep EMU’s community as safe as possible.
Allowing some rules to bend or break simply because of nerves, fear of an uncomfortable situation, or lack of interest isn’t acceptable. It puts us all at risk. I know everyone is sick of hearing about the pandemic; I’m sick of hearing about it myself.
But I think the solution to this isn’t silencing people deemed “covid crazy” and ignoring the data; the solution is to eradicate the pandemic by wearing masks, getting vaccinated, and encouraging everyone around you to do the same.
