It is becoming a mandate that just will not die: the requirement to wear masks while using public transportation.
In March, the Biden administration made the befuddling decision to extend the mask mandate for public transportation to April 18.
At the time, the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded daily had dropped significantly from the peak in January, and states were ending mask mandates left and right.
Despite the extension, it seemed like the transportation mandate might have finally been coming to an end.
But the emergence of the BA.2 variant of the virus suddenly raised the prospect that the mandate might be extended yet again.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Today” Monday, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha was asked if another extension of the mandate was “a live option.”
“I think it is absolutely on the table,” he responded.
And on Wednesday, Zeke Miller of the Associated Press tweeted, “AP Source: CDC to extend travel mask mandate for two weeks to monitor uptick in COVID-19 cases.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — AP Source: CDC to extend travel mask mandate for two weeks to monitor uptick in COVID-19 cases.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 13, 2022
The mandate will be extended for at least another 15 days.
A statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reads, “Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the U.S. In order to assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC Order will remain in place at this time.”
According to The New York Times, the existing vaccines protect people against severe illness or death resulting from the new variant. And health officials are skeptical that this new variant will lead to another massive surge.
It’s interesting that the CDC has decided to extend the mask mandate for transportation while just two weeks ago, it determined that it is safe enough to end Title 42 — a decision that is expected to lead to a surge of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border.
In a statement announcing the decision to end Title 42, the CDC said, “After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC Director has determined that an Order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary.”
So in one statement, the CDC justified loosening a restriction that could lead to 18,000 people per day trying to cross into the country — and likely overwhelm border facilities — by citing the effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics, while in another statement it acts as if it is still March 2020.
The decision to extend the mandate comes as nearly two dozen CEOs of major U.S. airlines say it’s time to end the air travel mandate.
In a letter to the president last month, they pointed out that studies conducted before the coronavirus vaccines were available showed that the cabin of an airplane is “one of the safest indoor environments due to the combination of highly filtered air and constant air flow coupled with the downward direction of the air.”
As the executives note that while passengers are required to mask up to board flights, people are free to go to stadiums and other venues and spew germs all over each other.
Getting sick isn’t fun, but there are and have been vaccines available that can protect the most vulnerable from the worst outcomes. And people are free to wear a mask, or two, or three, if they so choose.
However, the majority of the population shouldn’t be forced to continue to wear masks.
And families certainly should not have to deal with the frustration and stress of struggling to get their children to wear a mask or risk getting kicked off the aircraft any longer.
