As the world has been going through a pandemic for nearly 3 months, rules were enforced upon many communities in order to lessen the spread of the coronavirus.

However, new changes were announced in the past weekend from O.C. Health Care Agency Director, Dr. Clayton Chau, where face masks were no longer required, but strongly recommended. Many have stated that those restrictions can help citizens to easily comply with the rules as it provides them with more comfort.

In reality, is our community safe enough to be released on masks? Most definitely not.

The rates of new cases of COVID-19 in Orange County have been constantly increasing. The number of new cases in California reached its peak on May 30th, with a number of 3,705 cases.

As it has been proven that the disease can be spread by air, masks were a definite and a trustable gear in lowering the rates of infection.

Chris Choi, a junior attending Orange Lutheran High School states, ��It is definitely not a safe time to release the rule of mandatorily wearing masks as the cure of the virus has not been found yet.�� Agreeing with the statement, Victoria Choi, also a junior attending Troy High School adds on, ��Even though it doesn��t guarantee that you won��t get the coronavirus, it will definitely give you a less chance of getting it. Without masks, thousands more will suffer.��

In order to persuade others of the importance of masks, I believe that the government should release more information of how dangerous and death-threatening this disease is. By revealing the statistics such as 2.1 million people getting diagnosed in less than three months, many people may become aware of the seriousness of this worldwide pandemic.

Moreover, the use of masks should be alerted to others as it may help lessen the number of individuals infected and suggest how essential quarantine is in the midst of this time.

Releasing restrictions of masks is definitely not the best choice as it may bring disastrous aftermaths to not only the community but the country.

As it may be difficult and irritating to form a habit in wearing masks, it is indeed a vital tool for the protection of others and the individual. COVID-19 has to be stopped and in order to fulfill this goal in the shortest amount of time, rules such as mandatory masks undoubtedly have to be kept and followed.

Erin Choi / Orange Lutheran 11th Grade

<Erin Choi / Orange Lutheran 11th Grade>