It seems the longer the COVID-19 pandemic lasts, the more safety restrictions are waived. Masks at Arizona universities are the latest on the list of eliminated precautions.
Face masks are optional in most Arizona State University spaces as of March 14, the university announced. Over the past two years, the newly ended mandates have drawn critics.
One such critic has been Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who, during a rally on the ASU Tempe campus, told students to violate university mask mandates.
“I don’t care if they give you ticket after ticket. If they arrest you, on Day 1 when I’m governor, I will pardon every patriot who stood up against this tyranny,” Lake said, as reported in the Arizona Republic in August 2021.
Further efforts to remove mask mandates have come in 2022, including in the Republican-controlled state Legislature. Arizona House Government and Ethics Committee voted 7-6 across party lines to ban mask mandates from school districts through House Bill 2616.
While this bill was directed at the K-12 schools, this anti-mask sentiment is felt even at the university level.
During the February committee meeting, Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, falsely claimed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cloth and “regular” masks “do absolutely nothing in terms of blocking the transmission of the disease, slowing the spread, stopping the spread,” Courthouse News Service reported. Courthouse News Service said that this was a misconception tied to CDC recommendations.
Before the CDC released relaxed masking guidelines in March, the CDC reported that N95s and KN95s were more effective against the more transmissible omicron COVID-19 variant than surgical or cloth masks. However, wearing a well-fitting mask, regardless of the type, especially where social distancing is not possible, was also among the CDC’s recommendations throughout the pandemic.
“It is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask,” the CDC recommended as of January 2022.
Even with widespread opposition to mandates, ASU maintained a policy of wearing masks in classrooms to reduce the amount of coronavirus being transmitted, until March 14.
Some students living on the downtown Phoenix campus voiced support for the mandate before it was lifted. Among those in favor of the mask mandate were students Jaden Mendoza and Andrea Hernandez Moreno.
Dorms have little in the way of mandates but instead, have recommendations to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“Residents are recommended to wear masks indoors and where social distancing is unavailable,” Taylor Place Community Assistant Raena Raebel said in an interview in February. There is also mandatory quarantine for those who have COVID-19, and accommodations are given to those who need to be isolated, according to Raebel. “Students who are exposed to or test positive for COVID are offered quarantine rooms in Hampton Inn as well as free meals throughout their isolation,” Raebel said.
Some students supported the dorm policies. “If you’ve got COVID, you gotta go,” said Jaden Mendoza, a resident of Taylor Place, a downtown Phoenix dormitory, in February.
However, some students felt that more should be done in dorms to stop the spread of COVID-19. “There could be a stronger mandate when it comes to mask usage in the elevators,” said Andrea Hernandez-Moreno, another resident of Taylor Place, in February.
Despite the school mandate being lifted, in the dorms, students are still required to quarantine, get tested for covid, and wear a mask to protect others if they have been exposed to COVID-19.
On the other hand, Kaden Ryback was among some students who were “fine” with the ASU mask mandate being lifted.
“Arizona’s in a position where we’re pretty safe in terms of how the low case count is,” Ryback said.
Last week, the COVID-19 case count totaled 32 known positive cases among the ASU student body, according to the university’s COVID-19 update on March 28. This was the first reported increase in positive cases in nine weeks, up from 23 in the previous week, the State Press reported.
Ryback said stopped wearing masks as often but was fine wearing a mask on the bus, where they are still required. He also said he wears masks in places he considered “essential” like grocery stores.
Even after the repeal of the facemask requirements in classrooms, many students have still chosen to wear their masks and take other precautions.
Kevinjonah Paguio, a student who chose to remain masked mentioned that he was comfortable being around people without masks, but had his own reasons for wearing his.
“I’ve just gotten used to wearing it, and I feel protected. Also, my parents, they’re older, I’m kinda doing it for their sake as well,” Paguio said about his decision to wear his after the mandate was lifted.
Even though the mask mandate has ended, some students have taken matters into their own hands.
Contact the reporter at kerasmu1@asu.edu.
