Mask Mandate lift leaves choice up to students

By: Faizan Waraich

March 2, 2022

New York Governor Kathy Hochul officially lifted the mask mandate for schools this past Sunday. The end to the indoor mandate will come into effect Wednesday, March 2. This turns the decision of a mask mandate over to local schools.

The governor cited the CDC’s advice of not wearing a mask indoors if there isn’t a high risk of catching an infectious disease.

According to the governor’s own website, there has been a sharp 98% decline of COVID cases since January, bundled with a drop in hospitalizations, supporting her effort to lift the restriction.

"With more New Yorkers getting vaccinated, and the steady decline over the past several weeks in cases and hospitalizations from Omicron, we are now entering a new phase of the pandemic. Because New Yorkers have stepped up, we can confidently remove the statewide mask requirement in our schools," Governor Hochul said.

A few hours after Governor Hochul announced the change, the South Colonie Central School District announced how this will apply to their schools. They stated that students will be welcome to make their own decision on wearing a mask or not, both will be respected. They want to make the transition as seamless and comfortable for students as possible.

Even though Colonie students now have full freedom to show their full faces, many seem reluctant to embrace this precedent for the year.

Colonie senior Ahmed Zegher said, “Honestly I don’t know. I’m still gonna wear my mask cuz some people are nasty and I care about staying safe.”

When it comes to outside of the hallways however, Zegher said he would still keep one around.

Colonie senior Alex Pause also shared this sentiment when asked about if he’d still wear a mask, he said he probably wouldn’t wear one in class;, however, he would still wear one in the hallways.

The idea of letting the mask loose isn’t limited to just students, Colonie AP Biology teacher, Mr. Goldberg said, “I feel that based on the data, the number of cases have been down, less people have been out being sick. And that I don't find that people wear the masks outside of school regularly, so I think it's no longer a mitigation factor that can work, however we do have a vaccine which a lot of people, not all have, as well as the booster. So I'm actually in favor for it.”

Mr. Goldberg talked about how not wearing a mask would benefit the academic learning experience by being able to better gauge students’ reactions to the content he’s teaching. He also said he wouldn’t wear a mask as he isn’t physically close with students typically while in class.

Though Mr. Goldberg decided not to wear a mask, it hasn't done anything to increase his fears of catching COVID.

“I don't want to catch it, but I do know that if I do have it I am double vaxxed, I am boosted, I know there's a lot of antivirals, I know there’s a lot of treatments, and hospitals are able to deal with it now. I feel a lot more comfortable if I do get it, than if I got it two years ago,” Goldberg said.

Given the ever unpredictable mutations COVID takes, Mr. Goldberg still supports the idea of reinstating a mask mandate if cases were to rise again.

He said, “I think they should if at any point--- if the case counts start rising due to a new variant, due to a virus that shows a great deal of immune system escape. But if the cases start going up and all that absolutely. It's a mitigation factor that if masks are worn properly if people follow it, it does stop transmitting respiratory diseases.”