Masks have been used widely by the workers of health clinics. This includes major hospitals like the Mayo Clinic or your average local community hospital. The sole purpose of the mask is to prevent people from the constant spread of bacteria, infections, parasites, and lastly, viruses. These are all diseases that masks can protect you from.
Hospitals have masks to ensure the safety of the workers. The mask not only keeps you from getting sick from other means, but if you are sick, the mask prevents the virus from getting into the air, keeping it within the mask. The mask has been used to keep the public safe from a pandemic outbreak, like the recent Covid-19 outbreak.
A mask is made of a type of plastic turned into a fiber that is tightly woven together. The mask is small and thick enough to keep the spread of germs maintainable. Other masks are made of fabric like cotton, which is the most effective fabric compared to other fabrics. Fabrics that are heavy and non-stretch are the most effective.
For more than 4 years, people around the world have been wearing masks because of the Coronavirus, because every person is different, people often hate wearing masks. In an interview with Crownpoint High School student, Kitauna Joe, she stated, “I wasn’t able to breath.” This reveals a problem. The discomfort of the mask causes people to avoid wearing masks whenever they get the chance.
According to CNN, most people didn’t like masks for many reasons. The most common reasons are that they cause discomfort. Another one of many reasons is that there is no virus or it’s not that bad. When I surveyed 16 students of Crownpoint High School, half of the students said that they were still unsure if it is safe enough to go out in public without a mask. Even though some were unsure, 10 out of 16 felt that Covid is still around.
Even if the pandemic didn’t happen, people with an infectious virus still must wear a mask to lower the risk of getting others sick. Even when you recover, you have a chance to get sick again. Although you are immune to the same virus, it won’t last too long and will weaken over time. This immunity won’t mean that you’re immune to all viruses, but only to that same virus or something close to it. Viruses that are weak aren’t much of a danger. On the other hand, there are still other viruses that can put you in life threatening conditions, and all shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The discovery of vaccines is among of the most important discoveries in history. Vaccines are important because they give the immune system a boost for specific viruses. For some viruses, you can recover quickly, but it will take some time. The vaccine’s effectiveness varies depending on the population and the outcome. For instance, you can get a small dose and it will last for an extremely long time. An overdose of a vaccine won’t really affect you, but it will have some side effects, and an underdose will be ineffective.
Although every virus is different, the virus can develop and become more dangerous than before. These more developed viruses are called “variants”. These variants are much stronger than the original virus. Covid, for example, had a variant named the “Delta Variant”. This Delta variant was the most contagious covid variant and took a big toll on people who didn’t have a vaccination. The variant was more contagious, and the symptoms were stronger than previous variants. This variant became the dominate variant until the new variant, omicron, was detected. Even though Omicron was more contagious than Delta, the Omicron had mild symptoms.
Even if you wear a mask, it doesn’t really mean that it can protect you from the virus. If you wear a mask, it only lowers the risk of getting the virus, meaning that you can still get the virus. Being sanitary is also important to reduce the chance of getting the virus. This means that you must disinfect surfaces that are constantly being touched by other people. The virus has many other ways to spread. The most common way for the virus to spread is when you’re in a enclosed space that is crowded. This way, the virus can spread because of the short distance and lack of fresh air.
Even though there is no news on Covid anymore, the virus is still here. The virus will appear as one of the Omicron “subvariants”. The Omicron variant is still here, but the variant itself has mutated multiple times and is the most dominate, but only on an extremely small scale because there might only be a few possible cases in the entire world. According to CNN, there is a possible chance that covid might become a seasonal virus just like the common cold and the flu. This is still a chance because covid might also become a yearly outbreak.
Without the mask, the world might have suffered from more casualties, not to mention that the number of confirmed cases would be too much to count. Even though the mask can’t ensure your safety, it reduces the risk of getting the virus, not to mention that it also can prevent you from spreading the virus. Not only did the mask help with the Covid pandemic, but also vaccines, disinfectant products, and much more. It is always safe to keep mask and disinfectant products with you to prevent you and others from getting sick from other micro-organisms which includes bacteria, parasites, fungus, and viruses. If you are sick, the best way to prevent the spread is to wear a mask, disinfect frequently touched surfaces, and make sure you’re up to date on your vaccines.
