The Biden administration is extending the mask mandate for travelers on airplanes, trains and other transit systems into May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.
The current requirement that all travelers wear face coverings was set to expire on April 18, but the Transportation Security Administration will now extend the requirement for an additional 15 days through May 3, the CDC announced.
“Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the U.S.,” the statement said. “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.”
Some regions of the country have seen an increase in cases, but so far, much of the rise hasn’t been met with a return of mitigation efforts like mandatory masking.
Cases are being driven by the BA.2 omicron subvariant, which experts have warned is highly contagious. There have also been warnings that the extent of the latest surge may not be apparent because more people are utilizing home tests and not reporting positive results to government officials.
Airlines had begun to push the administration to let the mandate expire. Airlines have been left to enforce the masking requirements while increasingly more states and localities have dropped their requirements that people wear face coverings in public.
The group Airlines for America, which represents the 10 major U.S. carriers, penned a letter to the administration on Wednesday asking that the mask and pre-departure testing requirement for international flights be dropped.
“Neither restriction is currently supported by data and science in today’s public health environment,” the letter argues. “It is very difficult to understand why masks are still required on airplanes, but not needed in crowded bars and restaurants; in packed sports arenas; in schools full of children; or at large indoor political gatherings. Simply put, an extension of the mask mandate does not make sense.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
