The mask mandate for air travel and other forms of public transportation is slated to expire on April 18.
But with a week left to go, the Biden administration’s Covid czar is not ruling out another extension of the mandate.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Today” Monday, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha was asked about rising cases of the virus and whether he supports ending the mandate.
“That’s a really good question,” Jha responded.
He continued, “This is a decision that CDC director, Dr. Walensky is, going to make. I know the CDC is working on developing a scientific framework for how to answer that. We’re going to see that framework come out, I think, in the next few days.”
Host Savannah Guthrie asked, “Does that mean that extending the mask mandate for public transportation is a live option? It’s on the table?”
“Look, this is a CDC decision, and I think it is absolutely on the table,” Jha responded.
Watch the video below:
.@SavannahGuthrie spoke with White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. @ashishkjha about the rising COVID cases and mask mandates. pic.twitter.com/OZX62EaN3o
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 11, 2022
The mask mandate for air travel, trains, and buses was set to expire in March, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended it another 30 days to April 18.
An administration official told CNN that during the extension of the mandate, “CDC will work with government agencies to help inform a revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor.”
“This revised framework will be based on the Covid-19 community levels, risk of new variants, national data, and the latest science. We will communicate any updates publicly if and/or when they change,” the official added.
However, nearly two dozen CEOs of U.S.-based airlines signed a letter stating that they believe that the mask mandate for flights is “no longer aligned with the realities” of the COVID-19 pandemic and should be ended.
The signatories of the letter included the CEOs of Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Airlines, FedEx Express, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines Holdings, and UPS Airlines.
The letter reads, “The science clearly supports lifting the mask mandate, as demonstrated by the recently released CDC framework indicating that 99 percent of the U.S. population no longer need to wear masks indoors.”
On top of the CDC data, the CEOs noted that “several studies” conducted before the coronavirus vaccines were available showed that “an airplane cabin 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.”
They pointed out that passengers can still wear masks if they want to, but said, “It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do.”
