Wearing a mask a choice to be respected
By Lethbridge Herald Opinion on July 3, 2021.
Finally, we can all breathe a little easier. With city Council Tuesday repealing its temporary mandatory face covering bylaw, we can start feeling a sense of normalcy again.
The struggles and grief COVID-19 have caused all of us in this past year-and-a-half are unspeakable.
Mandated masks have caused enormous conflict between those who believe in science and those who feel their freedoms were trounced upon by government.
We all have the right to live healthy lives and nobody has the right to put our lives at risk.
The mask mandate was necessary to protect citizens of Lethbridge from the scourge of COVID-19 which has cost too many lives and too many jobs.
Those people who followed mask regulations, be they customers or business owners, deserve to give themselves a round of applause. Because of you, we are breathing easier in our city, our province and our country. At least for now.
Perhaps if everyone had been so supportive of masks, then we could have reduced the number of deaths due to COVID. But some refused and if masks are mandated again, as they are becoming in certain jurisdictions in the United States, then those people will again endanger lives if they refuse to wear them again.
With the mask bylaw repealed, we shouldn’t completely let our guard down. COVID is still here and people who feel safer wearing one have that right. Many people among us have compromised immune systems or live with family members who do. They justifiably may want to wear a mask to protect their loved ones from getting COVID.
We need to be respectful of our neighbours who still feel they are vulnerable by not wearing one. They don’t deserve to be mocked, scoffed and belittled because they are making a personal choice they feel comfortable with.
That’s a choice we all have now, thanks to city council. It’s a choice we have now because Albertans have gotten onboard with vaccinations.
The choice we now have we can’t take for granted after so many months of COVID restrictions.
Those who want to continuing wearing a mask deserve our respect. Please be considerate and understanding.
-1
