Comfortable or not, wear a mask

I booked my flight home to Florida in March of 2020, midway through my first winter term at the University of Toronto. That was the beginning of a summer ridden with reckless government policies in response to COVID-19. Amidst a pandemic, individual actions, such as wearing a mask, affect us all.

Unmasked asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 can spread the deadly virus to people who may have pre-existing conditions, leading to serious complications. Aside from social distancing and basic hand-washing hygiene, wearing a mask is currently thought to be the most effective way to limit the spread of the virus. According to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield, face masks may even provide better protection than a COVID-19 vaccine.

Florida’s death toll climbs daily, reaching almost 13,000 deaths as of September 16, 2020. The reported numbers are likely much lower than the actual numbers due to the questionable accuracy of Florida’s COVID-19 data. Yet, the governor has not imposed a statewide mask mandate for indoor spaces. The death toll and total number of cases per capita in Florida are over twice and eight times higher than in Canada. (See Figure 1 for COVID-19 statistics.)

The lack of responsible leadership from state and federal officials in the US has led to staggering rates of illness and death. Without a mandate, local businesses struggle to fulfill the government’s job by enforcing their own mask-wearing rules. The main argument by citizens against a statewide mask mandate is that mask use should be a personal choice rather than a government decision. If Florida is any measure of the country as a whole, this “personal choice” tactic is not working.

Canada has had a very different response than the United States to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian approach has been driven from the start by government policies that “were strict, broadly uniform and widely followed.” This may play a role in the fact that the number of cases and deaths per capita is much lower in Canada than in the United States. However, pandemic fatigue—the burnout that people experience from prolonged lockdown measures—is found in both countries, making mask mandates difficult to enforce. Florida’s frightening statistics are a clear warning to mandate-doubting Canadians of what can happen when people fail to wear masks.

Putting a mask on is nothing more than an annoyance for most people. Choosing not to wear one is not a demonstration of one’s right to freedom of expression; it is a failure to show common decency. In Canada, a rise in COVID-19 cases has led to stricter restrictions and rollbacks on the reopening of provinces, including Ontario. When paired with other sensible health policies, widespread mask usage helps businesses stay open and allows students to continue to live in universities’ residence buildings.

A pandemic is a public health crisis. The government must temporarily sideline individual freedom of choice, prioritizing our universal human right to life. The dead do not have freedom of choice. In times like these, prioritizing personal comfort is reckless endangerment. We all have the opportunity to show care for others through the simple act of wearing a mask. It may not be comfortable, but it does not demand great courage or sacrifice. Comfortable or not, wear a mask.

Figure 1. COVID-19 Statistics

As of September 16, 2020:

	Canada	United States
Population (millions)	37.8	331.4
COVID-19 cases (total)	139,421	6,799,740
COVID-19 deaths (total)	9,193	200,712
COVID-19 Cases/Population	0.00368838624	0.0205182257
COVID-19 Deaths/Population	0.00024320105	0.00060564876

U.S. Cases/Population is 5.56 times higher than Canadian Cases/Population.

U.S. Deaths/Population is 2.49 times higher than Canadian Deaths/Population.

As of September 16, 2020:

	Canada	Florida
Population (millions)	37.8	21.5
COVID-19 cases (total)	139,421	671,201
COVID-19 deaths (total)	9,193	12,939
COVID-19 Cases/Population	0.00368838624	0.03121865116
COVID-19 Deaths/Population	0.00024320105	0.00060181395