Public health experts were dismayed by a federal judge's ruling that struck down a mask requirement for plane, bus and train passengers, expressing concern that the case would set a precedent that erodes the authority of public health agencies and hamper their ability to respond to health emergencies.
Less than a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its mask order, a Florida judge issued a ruling. The ruling came in the middle of a school vacation when many families are traveling to see relatives for the first time in two years.
The rule was no longer in effect when pilots made announcements. Others who have disabilities, are immunocompromised or were traveling with children too young to be vaccine free were caught off-guard and distressed that the rules were changed mid-flight.
Richard Besser, president and chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting director of the C.D.C., said that if this ruling stands, it could put the American public at great risk.
The ruling coincides with a recent rise in Covid cases nationally, driven by a rise in cases on the East Coast.
If I were rude, I would say it was kind of stupid.
Low-income people who rely heavily on buses and trains for transportation are vulnerable to infections and there is still no vaccine for young children. She said that banking on immunity from previous infections and vaccinations for protection may be overly optimistic.
The results of home testing kits are not reported, so official case counts do not reflect the true number of new cases. A rise in hospitalizations is not a reliable indicator of severity.
The C.D.C. ordered people to wear masks when using public transportation inside and outside. The agency said in a statement Tuesday that the order was no longer in effect and would not be enforced, although it still recommended masks inside public transportation settings.
The supporters of masks have started an online petition urging major airlines to make some flights mask-required in order to give customers a choice.
Some experts who had previously supported the lifting of the mask mandate for passengers said they were troubled by the precedent that the federal judge's ruling could set.
They hoped that the Biden administration would challenge the ruling. President Biden said on Tuesday that Americans should make their own decisions.
Dr. Leana Wen is a public health professor at George Washington University. She said Tuesday that she still supports wearing high-quality masks like the N95, but that she doesn't think a government mandate is appropriate at the moment.
I don't want people to think that masks are no longer required or that they shouldn't be worn.
The chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco had said he favored lifting mask requirements. The government needs to have the authority to issue mandates during public health crises in order to respond to future threats.
If this becomes a precedent, that a judge can overrule government and C.D.C. experts, that puts us in a problematic place for the next surge, the next pandemic, bioterrorism or who knows.
He encouraged his family and loved ones to wear a mask on flights even though he didn't think the situation was dire enough to justify a government mandate.
I think you should wear a mask, and I will.
The same argument was made about trains and buses.
The new Omicron subvariants appeared to be carrying a certain type of mutations that may affect immunity, according to Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
He said that the risk was extremely unpredictable.
One of the cheapest ways to fight the spread of infectious diseases is to tell people to wear masks. It is easy to do. It is as simple as an umbrella in the rain.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
