The Federal Government Needs to Step Up

By Daniel Kong

Sunny Hills High School

In early July, when businesses started opening again, my father went to his workplace in Los Angeles, excited to see his coworkers, except that he was greeted with three empty seats instead. They had all tested positive for COVID-19. It has been three months since then, yet the federal government has not enforced or passed any laws relating to face coverings.

For months now, credible scientists have had the facts to back up their claims that “wearing masks significantly lowers the spread of COVID.” However, higher authorities in our government, such as the President, have failed to acknowledge the importance of masks in such difficult times.

Because of the lack of initiative that the federal government has been taking since the start of the pandemic, law enforcement has been limited in their approach to the situation of enforcing masks and such in a legal manner.

As of now, Manhattan Beach law enforcement can only issue fines up to $350 for civilians without face wear as there is no official law guiding officers on how they should approach the situation.

According to the Los Angeles Times, California law enforcement agencies say “they plan to educate those found without masks [rather than issuing] fines.” For the time being, the local agencies have been showing great efforts to help prevent the pandemic. However, just educating the public would not be considered nearly enough of a solution to the national problem, the rapid spreading of COVID-19.

The federal government’s first step in the right direction would be passing a bureaucratic bill enforcing Americans to wear some form of face protection, whether that be a mask or face shield, to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Some would argue that this law would be a violation of their rights, specifically freedom. However, as the health of millions is on the line, the action of wearing a mask is the least everyone can do for the safety of others.

By implementing mandatory face-covering, this would solve the nation’s biggest current problem, the rapid widespread of the pandemic. If the government chooses to take these measures in order to protect the health of Americans, the United States would be seen once again as one of the leaders of the world.

“I believe that during these times, the government has not stepped up to help their citizens,” said Kyle Min, a junior at Los Alamitos High School . “By implementing laws that will give law enforcement agencies the power to enforce facewear, we will be helping the prevention of spreading the pandemic.”

“Even during a pandemic, I still see plenty of people out on the streets without any type of facewear to cover their mouths, said Ryan Lee, a junior at Sunny Hills High School. “ The government has to help in order for COVID-19 cases to drop.”