Everyone gets ill. We’ve all caught colds or suffered through the flu during the winter months. We’ve set up appointments to visit a doctor, get proper nutrition, and to wash our hands. The world is changing drastically, especially with the current pandemic that has led to over a million deaths worldwide. Many countries acted sooner and tackled the virus before it got out of hand, and that, in turn, curtailed transmission rates. The world hasn’t had a pandemic this massive in over a hundred years. Since that time, technological advancements have paved the way for modern technology that has allowed us to grow and adapt to these situations.

 Despite these developments,It’s worth digging deeper into why we got into this mess in the first place and make sure that in the future nothing like this happens again. In particular, there is a need to ensure countless lives will not be lost due to poor treatments or untrustworthy governmental regulations.  

The pandemic has affected businesses, schools, and governments. Nurses and doctors themselves are put at risk. Many well-known people — from Tom Hanks to other prominent Hollywood actors and actresses, and even our  president and his family — have contracted the virus. Nevertheless,the many guidelines and rules set forth by states and cities to enforce people to wear masks for protection seem to not apply to every single person. How many times have you heard the phrase “wear a mask in public”? Well, tell that to the people who don’t comply with state rules and brush off the pandemic as a hoax or just simply aren’t afraid of catching the virus. 

Thirty-three states have imposed guidelines and regulations for wearing masks or face coverings in public. So why aren’t all people on board with a trend that has been pretty much part of our lives for 8 months now? The reasons may vary depending on who you ask, but some give reasons such as, “I’m too young and won’t catch it,”  or “I’m immune to this virus.” Others just go to the farthest end of the spectrum and say wearing masks is a conspiracy. Sadly, people  have all sorts of reasons ranging from not trusting local authorities to labeling masks  as dangerous. 

The refusal to wear a mask in public is a huge risk for  anyone. Failure to wear one is problematic, as wearing a mask prevents you from making someone else sick.. Despite cases spiking, people are still convinced that they shouldn’t wear a mask, one Huffington Post report showed. “It is a piece of cloth,” said one person. “Our government leaders don’t wear one,” said another. Although these claims may be true sometimes, that cloth is what keeps us from landing in a hospital bed or quarantining and missing work for 14 days. 

When we see that our leaders do not wear one and eventually catch the disease themselves, it suggests the simple action of wearing a mask does in fact work. The Huffington Post article also dives further into why people choose not to be responsible and risk their health as well as those around them. “Some see it as a sign of weakness,” the article noted. 

Another good example that demonstrates the results of not wearing a mask would be former presidential candidate Herman Cain, who attended a Trump rally and claimed that “people are fed up.” Cain then caught the virus himself and passed away shortly after. In the end, people just refuse to wear masks because they just simply  disregard science and disagree with what the virus is,  a threat to the global population. 

Emil Arakelyan can be reached at [email protected]