The US federal government's requirement that masks be worn on transportation was lifted this week.
Videos were shared of people cheering, music was blasted over the plane speakers, pilots shared the news from the cockpit, and flight attendants jumped with joy.
When she heard the news, Miller had a different reaction. She was horrified.
She said that they were making sure that infectious and susceptible people were together for a long time.
The removal of the federal travel mask mandate has been criticized by public health experts like Miller. There is confusion over how to behave as the Pandemic continues. People are left to decide how much risk they want to take, and how much risk they want to take to other people. The thought is troubling to some who have been studying the disease.
I don't think individual responsibility can solve the epidemic, said an infectious disease physician and researcher.
Wastewater surveillance testing has indicated a rise in cases as the BA.2 Omicron subvariant continues to spread.
The problem is that everyone is coming together, and they are dispersed. You could be seeding an outbreak to different areas.
The CDC decided to delay the end of the transportation mask mandate by two weeks because of the potential for an outbreak. Before it lifted the mandate, the agency wanted to assess the rise in cases that have been attributed to the spread of the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
The CDC said in a statement that there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the US.
The extension was struck down by a US district court judge in Florida. There are videos of people cheering on planes.
On Wednesday, the justice department said it was appealing to overturn the judge's ruling, leaving it unclear if the mandate will be lifted permanently. In a statement, the CDC said it is still studying the potential of another wave and still recommends that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings.
Miller was concerned about what message the lifting of the mandate was giving to Americans.
The removal of the federal travel mandate is the final push over the edge that tells the population that they don't have to worry about it anymore.
Over the last few weeks airlines have been lobbying to have the mandate lifted. Airlines for America sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services saying that the public health environment has changed and that science and research supports lifting the ban.
All major airlines dropped their mask policies after the mandate was lifted. Delta Air Lines said in a statement that it waslieved about the mandate's end as Covid-19 has transitioned to an ordinary seasonal virus. The airlines changed their statement to say that Covid is a more manageable respiratory virus.
Many employees of airlines had to deal with angry customers who refused to wear masks, not following the mandate. The number of flight attendants who had to deal with unruly passengers has gone up. 85% had to deal with unruly passengers, while one in five had physical incidents. The FAA reported that investigations into unruly passengers spiked because of issues with mask compliance.
They don't like being policemen on airplanes, according to the New York Times.
Sara Nelson, president of the AFA noted the trouble flight attendants had with enforcing mandates in a statement after the mask mandate was lifted.
Flight attendants have dealt with harassment and violence at a level never seen before during the Pandemic.
Some airlines will allow passengers who were banned from flying for refusing to wear masks to fly with them again.
Scott Kirby, United CEO, told NBC that they had talked to them individually.
What the lifting of the mandate will mean for the Pandemic is not known.
Some public health experts are concerned about the effects of long Covid on people who initially had mild cases of the virus. He was out sick for 10 days after getting Covid. He had symptoms for weeks.
I don't want to get sick again. I don't want people to take that lightly, and I have been telling people not to take every wave lightly.
The judge's decision is not helpful to the public health effort. We might see consequences of that. We don't know if we have more immunity from day one than we thought. There is a lot of uncertainty right now.
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