End of the masked age

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) recently announced that all students and staff members are no longer required to wear masks in CPS buildings. 

This decision was based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to change their COVID-19 guidelines, allowing 70% of Americans to choose to go maskless. 

The new mandate categorizes the recommendations of masking to fit the severity of COVID-19 in every county (e.g., amount of hospitalizations, amount of deaths, etc.). There are three levels: low, medium and high, and Hamilton County is currently low  with the seven day moving average being eight cases as of March 15 according to Hamilton County Public Health.      

Based on the guidelines, counties with a medium status are given a choice to lift the mandate, and CPS chose to make masks optional.

Of 100 WHHS students surveyed, more than half said they did not expect the mask mandate to end so soon. When asked whether they agreed to this decision, 31 said they agreed, 32 said they disagreed and 37 said they were caught in the middle.

During the meeting of the Board of Education on March 6, many of the public speakers weren’t in favor of ending the mask mandate so soon, and wanted it to happen either sometime around spring break, or next school year. 

Two days after the mandate was lifted, most students continued to wear masks, which surprised many.    

During the board meeting, it was suggested that all students would choose to go maskless right away, and those who continued to wear masks would be singled out, but it was almost the exact opposite.

This caused many to hesitate to take their masks off, and many teachers had to take some time to explain to their students that whether someone wears or doesn’t wear their mask, doesn’t change what type of person they are. 

Armaan Tindni, ‘27, said, “[The mask mandate] will make people happy to see each other’s faces, but it could be a health hazard if there is another outbreak.”