‘Masks off’ by Halalisani Shoba

 Human beings have the right to health, among other rights they have, and it is always important to uphold and honour the responsibility that goes in hand with the right to health. As much as I have a right to health but it will always be my responsibility to guide and take care of my health, no one has a right to dictate someone else’s life.

For the past 2 years, we’ve been living under unusual conditions, some went as far to claim or think that it was a ‘new normal. I won’t confirm whether it was a ‘new normal’ or not, but it was uncomfortable. Truly speaking I never thought I will live in a time where it will be mandatory to wear a face cloth or mask but it happened. That alone should give us heads up, that from now onwards anything is possible. Tomorrow we could wake up to a ‘new’ reality.

Since day one; when the regulations to combat the spread of covid-19 were published, I had plenty of questions. Was it necessary to enforce these regulations? Were these regulations justified, some of them? The list of questions is endless. I know we are entitled to our opinion but there’s nothing wrong in seeking answers and clarity, even though there’s no guarantee that you might find all the possible answers but we shouldn’t stop asking questions.

The idea behind wearing of face masks in order to prevent the spread of covid19 was a great move but I still think it wasn’t supposed to be mandatory. Besides people who think suicide is a solution, who else wants to die? My point is that the World Health Organisation, was supposed to make some regulations to be optional. I applaud our government in trying to protect South African citizens but it was not necessary to impose some ‘rules’ in my honest opinion.

Since it is no longer mandatory to wear masks indoors and outdoors in a crowded space but it doesn’t mean we have to be careless, we must continue to take full responsibility of our health. As we speak the winter season has commenced, which means it is easy to catch flu and other winter related diseases. It is exciting that; we have our ‘freedom’ back, as wearing of masks seems to be the thing of the past but we shouldn’t let our guide down. At all times, let us be vigilant so that we don’t find ourselves in a difficult situation again.

I hope we will do everything possible to avoid any damage that might be caused by monkey pox, we need a break and we don’t need another unnecessary pandemic, unless if happiness and prosperity will be the next pandemic.

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