Even after almost 10 months, COVID restrictions only continue to get worse, making our cities feel more like prisons. On Nov. 21, Governor Gavin Newsom placed a 10 p.m curfew on all California counties within the purple tier, including San Diego. 

This curfew does more to take away our freedom than it does to actually protect people’s lives. Large gatherings within homes, which are one of the highest risk locations for contracting COVID, are still able to take place before 10 p.m, so what is the point?

COVID doesn’t become more active at night. It is just as easily spread at any time of the day. The reasoning behind limiting our freedoms between 10 p.m and 5 a.m is that officials believe people are less likely to follow guidelines later at night. I think that officials should focus on enforcing mask mandates and social distancing at all times and places rather than lazily putting time restrictions on us.

For example, popular places like the beaches and deserts are crowded full of people without masks during both the day and the night. If they feel tighter restrictions are needed, these crowded areas should be the target of focus rather than a curfew.

Even with this curfew, COVID cases are significantly higher now than even before. A major reason for this is the fact that people are getting fed up with the closures and re-closures, curfews, and any guidelines that limit what we are allowed to do.

However, guidelines like the mask mandate are much more effective and have minimal effect on businesses and citizens. Officials need to focus on finding better ways to reduce the spread without reducing our freedoms at the same time.

Freedoms like being able to eat out and use the gyms have been restricted from us for a long time with no reduction in the spread of the virus. Clearly, mandates need to be re-evaluated, and that should start with the curfew being replaced by a more effective and reasonable mandate.