Argumentative Essay Example on Mask Mandates over COVID-19

The recommendation of wearing masks should be respected especially when you’re asked to wear one in certain circumstances. Wearing a mask was proven to decrease Covid-19 rates, they protect yourself and others, and are safe to wear. 

Once the mask mandates were introduced there were a lot of concerns about whether or not this was a good idea. But these mask mandates have been proven to actually decrease the amount of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, since. The article, ‘Association between COVID-19 outcomes and mask mandates, adherence, and attitudes’, states, “We show that mask mandates are associated with a statistically significant decrease in new cases (-3.55 per 100K), deaths (-0.13 per 100K), and the proportion of hospital admissions (-2.38 percentage points) up to 40 days after the introduction of mask mandates both at the state and county level”. The information coming from this organization gives obvious statistics to prove that mask mandates helped out with the pandemic.

Wearing masks is also a smart way to protect yourself and others from potential infection.  When an infected person sneezes, coughs, or talks, they spread respiratory droplets which gives a good chance of infecting anyone else around who isn’t wearing a mask. Masks are able to block out those droplets. According to the article, “5 Reasons You Should Wear a Face Mask to Lower Risk”, it says, “They act as a barrier to keep virus-containing particles from escaping an infected individual and landing on another person…”. This quote from the article gives a straightforward explanation of the purpose of masks, and how they work. 

Last but not least, masks are safe to wear! There are also no harmful health effects on both children and adults. The CDC’s article, “Science Brief: Community Use of Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2”, said, Studies of healthy hospital workers, older adults, and adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) reported no to minimal changes in oxygen or carbon dioxide levels while wearing a cloth or surgical mask either during rest or moderate physical activity.” and “A separate study observed no oxygen desaturation or respiratory distress after 60 minutes of monitoring among children less than 2 years of age when masked during normal play”. These two quotes give reasons why there’s nothing to fear when wearing masks. As long as you’re taking care of it, by washing it often (cloth mask), or making sure that you’re wearing new ones after a while (paper masks), it can reduce the risk of acne and dry skin.

In the light of these facts, these three reasons are good explanations of how mask mandates and just wearing a mask play a big role in avoiding getting Covid-19, along with why the recommendation should be respected.  There could be a chance you, a friend, or a family could be infected and not even know, so it’s always best to keep yourself safe, and others safe in a way that’s simple and non-harmful. Especially when out in public.