]Now that Covid has gotten a lot better and the cases have decreased, the state of Washington has lifted mask requirement. Although some people are happy about it others are not ready to take them off. There are still Covid cases but not as much as when Covid first came around in 2019. This may mean that even more people will catch Covid due to the non-mask requirement. There are negative effects to not wearing a mask in public although it’s your personal choice and opinion.  

Some people are glad that they don’t have to wear masks. They may think it’s annoying and that the masks are no use. On the other hand, people are upset that they have lifted the mask requirement. For many reasons some may be that they have sick family members, or they are sick themselves. May include diabetes, heart issues and many other reasons. Therefore, they will continue to wear their mask to stay safe and healthy.  

I had asked a couple of the students here at Lakes what their opinion is on now that masks are not required and if they will continue to wear them or take them off. And here are a couple of the responses I got back from students.  

Nate Dahlgren has said, “if the state of Washington says its optional then I believe students should choose whether they want to wear the mask or not.” 

“In my opinion, masks weren’t really stopping anyone from catching Covid so the mask mandate being lifted is something I feel should’ve happened a long time ago,” said Shirmara Willis.  

Michael Cosio has stated that, “If I don’t have to wear one, I won’t wear one but if I get told to by the state, I will be putting it back on.”  

Everyone will decide for themselves if they want to wear them or not but it’s best to keep wearing them, so we don’t risk it and get the Covid cases to increase again. Hopefully we get to go back to how it used to be before this virus came around and got many people sick.