Mask Mandate Drops in Philadelphia school and buildings
By: Asia Simmons, Jayla Ellison-Wilkes, Mekhi Connor
April 8, 2022
On March 9th, the mask mandate in Philadelphia was lifted due to a drop in case numbers. Students and staff at Carver wonder how life will continue without masks in school and city buildings.
Many students and staff in Carver have chosen to keep their masks on. It can be a huge change and after almost two years of Covid, they can’t be blamed. Freshman Justus Mendoza hasn't adjusted to the changes just yet.
“Honestly, I kind of plan to keep my mask on for at least the rest of the year, or at least left of the school year just because like, everything's up in the air right now.”Justus said “COVID is weird, it changes, it evolves.”
11th grade Carver student, Trevor Gardner explains their take on the mask mandate dropping.
While there are still students with masks, Carver has students that are ready to ditch the mask and say bye-bye to hiding their faces. Student Trevor Gardner was both thrilled and nervous to take off their mask.
“At first I would say I was nervous because like a lot of people weren't but then after like the first day I got really comfortable with it again.” Trevor said, “ I am fully vaccinated so that was also part of my reason, I think if I wasn't vaccinated I probably would have kept it on.”
The mandate being lifted has caused several opinions. Masks off, on, and maybe both? Some students at Carver are currently wearing their masks but plan to remove theirs before the school year comes to an end. Student Ava Jackson plans to only take her mask off during certain situations.
“I'm gonna probably still wear my mask to school every day, '' Ava said. “But sometimes, like, if I'm walking up the steps then I might pull it down. Or if I'm in a hot classroom, like on the third floor, then I might pull it down so that I can breathe a little bit so people can see my face.”
The parents of many students at the school have differentiating feelings about the end of the mask mandate in school. But 10th grade student Ean Hodge-Davis doesn’t think that his parents opinion will affect him and how he feels about the mandate.
I don't think my mom has had an opinion yet”. Ean said “And even if she did, I don't think it affected my opinion that much because I'd still wear mine either way. But I love my mom”.
Many people at the school don’t think that the end of the mask mandate in school or in public areas will lead to another quarantine like back in March of 2020. The most that they expect is a surge of cases.
“Probably not unless COVID cases surge backup”. Trevor said “um, I think they probably will have a little spike at first like when more people continue to take off their mask, but I think after like a little bit of time it'll level back out I'm probably not since we had the vaccination and all that” said Trevor.
11th and 12th grade, United States history teacher David Mandell had a similar opinion as the students in the school when it came to the idea of another surge.
“I don't think we'll have another quarantine. Look, you have to think of masks like an umbrella. And when it's raining, you put up the umbrella. So when there's a surge we put on our masks. COVID is not going anywhere. We're stuck with it. You're stuck with it for the rest of your lives. So I think we're just going to have to learn to have an off-on mentality and just like an umbrella.” Mandell said.
As of right now Philadelphia is averaging 111 new Covid-19 cases per day, with a total reported number of cases at 308,578. As students start to come back from Spring Break, the first week that they are back they will be required to wear mask for a week then they can take them off again.
Although the mask mandate has been lifted, Covid isn't over. It will continue to spread and mutate like other colds. Mr. Milton, a history teacher at Carver, explains how he views the virus.
“This is not the flu. And that's the narrative that people keep on pushing that is similar to the flu, but it's not. It's just something new. And as you see, it's very contagious. And it comes in cycles.” Milton said.
UPDATE: Starting April 18, 2022, Philadelphia will reinstate the mask mandate in all public buildings, including schools, becoming the first city in the U.S. to do so.