In the US, the use of masks on public transport is no longer mandatory: what will the Biden government do?

On Monday the 18th, federal judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle declared illegal the ordinance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of USA (CDC) that required citizens to use masks while traveling on public transport.

LOOK: Which airlines in the United States have already eliminated the mandatory use of masks

During her ruling, the magistrate argued that the application of the order issued by the CDC violates administrative law and considered that this body had exceeded its powers with the provision.

With this decision, passengers on commercial flights, trains, buses, taxis and transport stations are no longer required to wear masks during their trips. The great public acceptance of the decision was summed up in a video that was broadcast on social networks shortly after the sentence was known.

It shows a group of passengers on a commercial flight celebrating after the crew informed them that it was no longer necessary to wear face masks on planes or at airports.

Pilot announces an end to Biden’s Mask Mandate, the reaction from everyone on the plane says it all.

This is awesome ????????

pic.twitter.com/EZHwgzJ85f

— Benny “Libs Of Tik Tok” Aficionado (@bennyjohnson) April 19, 2022

Airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines; of taxis such as Uber and Lift, in addition to the state train network Amtrak have replaced their rules of mandatory use of masks by the “recommendation” to use them.

Judge Mizelle’s decision has represented a setback for the CDC, which just a week ago had extended the mandate to wear face masks in public places for an additional 15 days.

blow to the government

In the same way, the Joe Biden Administration has received the news as a blow to its public health policies against COVID-19. However, so far it is not clear whether Washington will seek to appeal the decision.

The Department of Justice issued a statement on Tuesday the 19th announcing that the appeal is “subject to CDC findings that the order remains necessary for public health”.

LOOK: US government will appeal against lifting the mask mandate if the CDC agrees

The CDC, for its part, did not provide further clarity on the matter. An hour after the statement from the Department of Justice, they issued their own note in which they assured that they were still reviewing whether the order was still necessary, but they repeated their recommendation to use face masks.

“The CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings.”, the agency noted. “We will continue to assess the need for a mask requirement in those settings, based on several factors, including the community levels of COVID-19 in the US, the risk of circulation and novel variants, and trends in cases and The severity of the disease”.

That same Tuesday, the 19th, President Biden was approached by the press before flying to New Hampshire and was asked about the judicial decision and about his recommendations to citizens for the use of masks, to which he replied that “depends on themselves”.

JUST IN: “That’s up to them,” Pres. Biden says when asked if travelers should continue to wear masks on airplanes after federal mask mandate overturned. https://t.co/zV75edWC5K pic.twitter.com/1ObkQaANAv

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 19, 2022

Shortly afterward, White House press secretary Jen Psaki appeared to increase government support for the CDC. “We continue to encourage people to wear masks on public transportation. They’ll make that decision because obviously it’s not being implemented right now, but we’ll continue to follow CDC guidance.“, he pointed.

LOOK: Uber eliminates the mandatory use of masks on its trips in the United States

Real options for success?

The uncertainty about an appeal by the Federal Government seems to be due more to the consequences that the ruling could have on the prestige of the health bodies than on the measure itself.

Andy Slavitt, a former member of the COVID-19 response team during the Biden Administration, sums it up for Bloomberg, pointing out the “disadvantages” which could bring an appeal.

“While it is very tempting to appeal a dubious ruling like this, there is a risk in doing so. If they appeal and lose, the CDC could be powerless to take some basic public health precautions in the event of a fall or winter spike in cases.”, notes Slavitt.

The expert also highlights that this risk increases for the federal administration if one takes into account that the judge who issued the order was appointed by former President Donald Trump and would have shown a tendency closer to Republicans who oppose the use of masks. .

Specialists, however, fear that the measure could bring about a rebound in COVID-19 cases in the country, where there is currently a drastic decline after peaks in cases caused by the BA.2 variant during the winter.

“The biggest concern is that we want people to be safe, and we’re worried that we’re not as far through the pandemic as people want, and the rates (of COVID-19) are starting to rise.”, the medical director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, Dr. Marcus Plescia, told CNN.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines or United Airlines were some of the companies that immediately adopted the judge’s ruling and lifted the mandatory use of masks on their flights. (Kevin Lamarque | Reuters /)

In the same CNN article they highlight how the experience of other countries shows that the step of “ban” a “recommend” the use of masks in practice represents the abandonment of these.

To do this, the American news network cites the examples of England and France, pointing out that the majority of people who used face masks while it was an ordinance stopped doing so by turning it into a suggestion.

Source: Elcomercio