Walking the streets of Rathdrum or going into restaurants in North Idaho, you may notice masks are not a common sight to see.

Though hundreds of thousands of people have passed away with COVID, in their system, it does not seem to phase most “Idahoans.” 

Some may say it’s because we are ignorant, others argue it’s because of our political beliefs. While most of us feel they just don’t care.

At Lakeland Senior High School, students have the option to wear a mask if they feel it will keep them safe.

As of January 1, 2020 the year decided to take a huge hit on our everyday lives. Handshakes went to waves, gatherings went to phone calls and some schools went virtual.

We’ve seen some horrible events occur, but is COVID finally slowing down? According to ABCnews.go.com, they state that December of 2020 through January 2021 was COVID’s worst few months. 

Though COVID became the dominant factor in our lives, masks were still absent in most people’s lifestyles in Idaho. As for Washington state, masks are enforced everywhere you go.

Dennis Norman, a retired Air Force veteran and former postal service worker out in Washington states, “If people are scared of the virus, they should stay inside. The world is not meant to be hidden from its meaning to be explored and sadly, death is natural, but putting the world on pause for it is absolutely insane.”

Some parents don’t want to send their kids to school because they worry about the virus, others worry about their kids but know the importance of their in school learning and the rest of them don’t care.

John Meredith, a Sophomore at Lakeland High School states he doesn’t wear a mask because, “There is almost no point in wearing them because you are always exposed to something in the air, you will end up touching your face, arms, or other objects so wearing a mask is just slowing the spread to other people, not protecting you.” 

One thing about masks that has people believing they don’t work is that you can still breathe through them, so news stations have told people to “double mask up.” But masks don’t stop the problem, they slow it down.

People are free to do whatever they want to keep them safe as long as it doesn’t put others in harm’s way. It’s tough to say that a lot of cases were found when riots and protests were happening the summer of 2020.

Why are the COVID cases suddenly decreasing? A few could argue that it’s because of politics, they wanted to make our newest president, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris look good. Well, it’s obvious to say that politics aren’t a reason for everything. 

People are starting to build immunities, some people don’t show symptoms of COVID-19 and they just pass it on, sadly others aren’t so lucky. 

As for our nations, COVID-19 will be the highlight of our future history.