As the world was beginning to return to a sense of pre-COVID-19 normalcy, mask mandates have been extended on airplanes and public transportation.
The federal mandate was announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday and will remain in place until at least May 3rd.
Individuals traveling aboard airplanes, trains, and on public transportation in the United States will be required to continue wearing masks. The mandate was originally set to expire on April 18th. Most places in the country have lifted the mask requirement. However, the transportation mandate applies to all mass transportation, including planes, trains, buses, and airports, for now.
Reinforcing masks is a response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases. Most new cases are attributed to the quickly spreading BA.2 subvariant, which caused 86% of new COVID-19 infections nationwide last week. Per Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. is averaging 38,345 new cases daily.
Continuing the mask mandate on mass transportation is sure to cause a stir. The Federal Aviation Administration reports that since the beginning of 2022, there have been nearly 744 incidents of rowdy passengers related to face masks requirements.
