The recent COVID-19 pandemic has played a significant role in the lives of many people from the way that they work to the way that they shop. For many changes that have been made, they will likely be seen as a “new normal” that people are going to need to adjust to in order to get on with their lives and for the country to get back on track. One of the things that have been reiterated over and over throughout the pandemic is that people need to wear a mask when they leave home in order to keep others from contracting the virus. Unfortunately, there are people who don’t want to wear a mask because they feel that it takes away from their freedoms.
Early in the pandemic, Tom Hanks tested positive for COVID. He has recovered from the illness and has been a leader in trying to get more people to wear a mask while they are around other people. He has seen what the virus can do to those who have underlying health issues and those who just can’t fight off the virus. When he has seen people not wearing a mask, he’s not certain as to why they wouldn’t listen to health officials or wouldn’t think of their neighbors and family members by doing such as simple task. The simple act of wearing a mask is the least that Hanks feels that he could do to try to save other people and to try to stop the virus from spreading so that life can get back to what’s considered a “new normal.”
Hanks has questioned how patriotic the people are who don’t wear masks. He was recently on “The Late Show” and talked to Stephen Colbert about the issue, asking if people who don’t wear masks are even really Americans. Simple things like hand washing, using sanitizer, and making sure there is a mask on hand when going in a store are the simplest things that everyone can do as a way to try to decrease the number of COVID cases in the country and to try to put the pandemic behind. Hanks and his wife tested positive within a few days of each other and have been talking about their symptoms and what it was like while they had to quarantine. When he learned that they tested positive, they went into isolation as a way to ensure that no one else around them contracted the virus. There are numerous ways that people stay safe, such as using their turn signals while driving and wearing a seatbelt while in a car. However, Hanks doesn’t quite understand why wearing a mask would be such a big deal for Americans.
