Two years ago on January 20th, 2020 Covid came to the United States of America which started a pandemic. There were so many lives that were lost because of this disease. According to the CDC, there have been 1.45 million cases of Covid in Washington state and 12,421 deaths. Because of all those deaths the Centers for Disease Control, the national public health agency of the United States, put a policy in place that to enter any public place you had to wear a mask. This requirement was put in place for Washington state on May 1st, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

 Covid stats were through the roof. The CDC kept this rule in place for the last two years, but as the cases started to reduce it was safe to take off masks. According to the CDC, they made a decision to lift the Mask Mandate. So on March 11th at midnight the CDC lifted the Mask Mandate.

Governor Inslee made a goal that if Covid’s stats dropped down significantly by March 21st  that he would lift the mask mandate, but they dropped down way sooner than he expected. Because of this, he decided to lift it earlier than he had announced. As of March 12, 2022, statewide mask requirements were transitioning to mask recommendations for many Washington state indoor settings.

But Chris Reykdal, the State Superintendent of Public Education, didn’t decide to lift the mask mandate until March 14th, 2022. Some students at our school think that they’re probably going to take their masks off when they see how the covid numbers go down. Eighth-grader  Maddie Jones says,  “I’m probably going to be taking my mask off when I see how the covid numbers go but I  will take my mask off more towards the summertime.”

Eighth-grader Anna Stewart says, “They  think that it’s great that we’re going into the last stage of covid.” In their opinion, they think that students will be more comfortable taking their masks off if they could see their friends’ faces. Some students and staff hope that the mask mandate being lifted does not affect student health in a bad way. Students also hope that the mandate being lifted improves other students’ health.

CPM’s student support advocate, Chauntelle Buckingham says, “I hope that the mask mandate being lifted does not affect student health in a bad way. I hope that the mandate being lifted helps their health in any way possible.”

Students and staff also feel a little nervous because they haven’t had masks off in a while but it’s exciting to see students and staff smile. Some staff feels like they will still wear their masks when the mandate is lifted because they don’t want to expose their family and friends to a disease that might hurt them. There are a lot of children that still can not get the vaccine so it would be a good idea if everyone would try to keep a mask on around younger children so they are protected in any way possible.

Other students think that masks are made to protect the people around them more than themselves so students don’t know if other people around them have a weak immune system, but just to keep others safe they think that wearing a mask is important. Eight grader Maddie Jones says, “Masks is made to protect the people around you more than yourself, so I don’t know if other people around me have a weak immune system, but just to keep others safe I think that wearing a mask is important”.

Some students at our school think that because the CDC lifted the Mask Mandate that it’s just going to make Covid numbers go even higher than before. Eighth-grader Kennedy Milner says, “They think that covid numbers will just increase when the Mask Mandate is lifted and that if we lift the Mask Mandate with what the numbers that they are now more people will die.”