As everyone is aware, COVID-19 has hit America hard. Almost everywhere, anyone who enters a building is required to wear a mask. Sadly, a lot of people ignore this rule and refuse to wear masks because they do not understand the importance of wearing a mask or because they believe the virus is just a hoax.

Masks are extremely important because one of the main issues with COVID-19 is that it is highly infectious and people can be asymptomatic, meaning that they might be infected with the virus but show no symptoms. If only the people who felt sick wore masks, the masks would serve no purpose due to people being asymptomatic. 

The CDC urges everyone to wear a mask because it not only slows transmission of the virus via droplets from coughing, but it also helps people reduce touching their face and risking transmission that way.

As of August 28th, America currently has 5.8 million confirmed cases and 180,000 deaths. The CDC recommends that everyone should wear a mask to help protect each other and slow the spread of COVID-19, but many feel like this infringes on their rights.

The government requiring citizens to wear a mask to help save lives is the same as them requiring citizens to wear seat belts when they are in cars. There is no ulterior motive, the government is simply trying to save lives. Another way to look at it is, if you wear a mask when out in public and it comes out that wearing a mask did absolutely nothing, then you can just laugh it off that you walked around with a piece of cloth on your face for a few months. However, if you do not wear a mask and later find out that doing so may have cost lives, then it would be better to err on the side of caution when it comes to wearing a mask. 

Wearing a mask sure is not the best feeling in the world, but by doing so, you are potentially saving lives. There is no deeper conspiracy of trying to get Americans to submit to the government by wearing a mask, it is just about protecting the general public.