Today marks the beginning of step two in the province’s reopening plan.
That means that you are no longer required to wear a mask in most places except for public transit, hospitals, continuing care facilities, or if you live in Edmonton.
As with everything pertaining to the pandemic, people have been dealing with a bombardment of changing information for the last 2 ½ years as the COVID-19 virus would morph and change. The fluidity of the pandemic, spiced with politics and human nature has created some very divided views. Not least of which, the great mask debate.
While some are celebrating discarding the mask others are feeling a little anxious and hesitant on the move as it feels like they are losing an extra layer of security.
Some residents weighed in on to mask or not to mask.
Brandon says, “I’m not going to ditch it completely, I’m definitely going to keep my mask in my pocket. Still have to wear masks on public transit {…} as for everywhere else, I will definitely keep it in my pocket. If I’m walking down a hallway by myself, I don’t really see a need but if it gets really crowded or something like that, I think I will put it on.”
For some it is a matter of habit, when the mask mandate first came out it felt foreign, now a lot of people feel it is second nature and it feels foreign not to wear a face covering.
Rick shares his thoughts, “I think there’s a happy medium, right? So, obviously, it’s not like March 1 rolls around and COVID is gone, so there still has to be some things in place to keep people safe. It’s also on you, a lot of us are adults right, you yourself can make the decision of whether you want to partake in certain activities. Especially with stuff opening up a lot more like gyms and recreational areas. I think now more than ever if you’re feeling unwell but you have to go out in public, it should be a courtesy to wear a mask.”
For some, they are a bit dubious because Albertans have been down this road before.
Callum feels, “I’m still going to wear one just because I’m 90 per cent sure restrictions are going to pop back up in April. We’ve had restrictions end more times…”
Also included in the step two plan is the mandatory work-from-home mandate being removed and limits on social gatherings being lifted.