Are COVID-19 Mask Mandates Gone?
By Patrycja Guzy
In late 2019 a cluster of patients in Wuhan, Hubei Providence, China began to experience shortness of breath and fever. The World Health Organization China Country Office was informed of a number of cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
All cases were connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. Chinese public health officials shared the genetic sequence of the unknown pneumonia virus (Wuhan-Hu-1) through an online database. Chinese authorities identify and isolate a novel coronavirus as the causative agent of the outbreak.
In 2019, the CDC established a 2019-nCoV Incident Management Structure to guide the response. It followed previously established MERS-CoV preparedness plans for developing tests and managing cases.
On Jan. 10, 2020, CDC published information about the novel coronavirus on its website. Just a few months later on Mach 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Isabella Greczek, a senior at Saint Xavier, believed social distancing, masking mandates, and staying home was a very good start in handling the safety of the spread of COVID-19. But as many people like herself are tired of wearing these masks now.
On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency. The next day the CDC issues a “No Sail Order” to all cruise ships. The order called for all cruise ships in waters that the U.S. has jurisdiction over to cease activity.
During this time people have been starting to be scared about no more food being in stores or different home supplies needed being a shortage. Around this time individuals went crazy with shopping making sure they are stacked with all the things they need to survive for a while.
The first human trial of a vaccine to protect against pandemic COVID-19 began in the U.S. at the Kaiser Permanente research facility in Seattle, Washington. Moderna Therapeutics is the biotech company behind the vaccine. On March 28, 2020, the White House extended social distancing measures until the end of April 2020.
During this time many people quickly went to get vaccinated for COVID-19 just as Julia Kindelin herself immediately went to get vaccinated at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
At a White House Press Briefing, in march 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Brix announced that 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. were expected even if social distancing and public health measures are perfectly enacted. April 3, 2020, at a White House press briefing, CDC announced new mask-wearing guidelines and recommends that all people wear a mask when outside of their homes.
To what extent are face masks effective to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Data has been done in early 2020 by Statista that presented many males and females to believe somewhat effective to not really effective.
On April 7, 2020, a report from the Chicago Tribune noted that 68% of the COVID-19-related deaths in Chicago occur among the city’s African American community, illuminating racial disparities of the pandemic in the U.S. April 13, 2020, most U.S. states reported widespread cases of COVID-19.
News media outlets reported that top White House officials shelve CDC “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework” which includes detailed advice on how to safely reopen the country.
The U.S. unemployment rate at 14.7%, was the worst rate since the Great Depression. With 20.5 million people out of work, hospitality, leisure, and healthcare industries taking the greatest hits. This time affected low-income and minority workers the most.
Three weeks prior to Black Lives Matter protests in June broke out across the country due to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Experts worried that it would lead to a spike in cases, but researchers released a report saying that it did not because the protests caused more people to stay home. The protests led to CDC rethinking its pandemic response to include a health equity framework.
At the beginning of November 2020, the U.S. presidential election occurred with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic response being one of the issues most debated. During this time the U.S. has been still trying to figure out how to keep everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic which affected elections.
On December 24, 2020, it was estimated that more than 1 million people in the U.S. are vaccinated against COVID-19. However, in the U.S. there were 30–40% of the population were unvaccinated whereas in other countries the whole population has been vaccinated.
January 7, 2021, was the one-year anniversary of the CDC COVID-19 pandemic response when about a month later the U.S.COVID-19 death toll surpasses 500,000.
In March 2021, President Joseph Biden announced a federal vaccine website where users can find vaccines near them. He also directed all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1st. Masks were to be worn outside of the home and the most issue focused on was to have individuals vaccinated.
CDC later recommended pausing the use of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine because of blood clot complications. On August 6, 2021, a CDC study showed that among people previously infected with COVID-19, reinfection was less than half as likely among those who were vaccinated after their first infection.
The start of wearing a facemask recommended by the CDC was in April 2020. Since then face masks were to be worn everywhere to stop the spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19 mandates have been removed in certain settings since February 28, 2022. More people are focused on Ukraine and going back to living their normal lives. Covid-19 might have another impact which can be another outbreak.
Many individuals are starting to not want to wear facemasks since COVID-19 has been slowly dying down in the news. People are tired and would like to go back to their normal lives.
Chicago has been very open to keeping individuals safe where mandates have been dropped. Meaning face masks are not required in public unless you’re sick or elderly wanting to keep yourself and others around safe.
Chicago Public Schools dropped its mask mandates this spring, which means masks are optional. However, President Jesse Sharkey opposed the agreement, saying it was a “clear violation” of the health and safety of the employees represented by the union.
Because many still oppose optional mask-wearing, some schools still require masks in certain settings. Masks help people feel safer in large settings where others believe they aren’t helpful.
UIC still has some COVID-19 guidelines that require students to wear masks during classes and faculty as well if lecturing closer than six feet to a student.
UIC Communication Professor Andrew Rojecki said he believes that people should respect themselves and others by following the guidelines, which can determine when it is safe and when the pandemic is over.
Wearing a mask is just following the guidelines and being respectful to yourself and everyone around you.
Rojecki compared mask-wearing to people wearing seat belts. If you’d mention this to your insurance company then the insurance rate would rise since you didn’t keep yourself safe without putting a seat belt on.
