The Biden administration announced an extension to the federal mask mandate for airplanes, airports, and public transit, upsetting a host of critics who cheered the end of COVID-19 restrictions in blue states and public buildings.
President Joe Biden conducted a mask-optional State of the Union address, and the White House went maskless days later as the nation began moving out of the panic phase of the pandemic. Nonetheless, passengers in almost anything but a private vehicle will be required to wear a mask until at least April 18, the fourth extension of a mandate introduced soon after Biden took office.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO EXTEND FEDERAL MASK MANDATE
Criticism among GOP circles was swift.
“Apparently government doesn’t want to relinquish its power and plans to extend the mask mandate on planes & public transportation,” Sen. Rand Paul, a noted restriction critic, tweeted when the news broke. “Not on my watch! I’ll be forcing a vote next week to end this unscientific mandate.”
Paul’s tweet linked to a Washington Examiner story detailing his plans to end the mandates, including his introduction of the Travel Mask Mandate Repeal Act of 2021 last July.
Other Republicans and conservative groups were similarly irked, with Tea Party Patriots Action pointing out the final statewide mask mandate will end March 25 and predicting another federal extension beyond April.
“Despite the fact that they think mask mandates should no longer apply to them — remember the State of the Union address, where no one had to wear one? — it’s clear they don’t want the rest of us to go back to normal. What a bunch of hypocrites,” the Atlanta-based group said in a statement.
“They refuse to recognize the damage that COVID mandates have done and continue to do to our country,” the statement continued. “Our economy, our health, our children and their education, all of them harmed by unnecessary and damaging lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and mask mandates. The administration made the wrong decision today. We’re not surprised.”
Polling also suggests almost four-fifths of adults are ready to return to normal, according to a YouGov survey.
But fans of the mandate say travel is inherently different from other spaces because of tight confines and its unique role in spreading diseases around the world.
“If nobody traveled anywhere, infectious diseases wouldn’t get as much purchase,” said Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “People have always traveled, it has just taken a little longer for diseases to travel with them in the past. We are not in a position yet where we can declare the pandemic over, we’re in a position where we still have to be worried.”
The administration made similar points in defending the extension.
“If we’re in Washington, D.C., and we’re in a green zone or a yellow zone, you can make a clear assessment,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “If you’re moving from one zone to another and you’re picking people up from one zone to another, it’s a little bit different. And that requires some consultation, which is what they’re going to endeavor to do between now and April 18.”
Gronvall points to a National Institutes of Health study that found masks in schools helped reduce COVID-19 cases last fall. She also predicted the mandate would end on April 18, barring a new variant or spike in cases, reiterating vaccination remains the best protection from the disease.
The airline industry itself is splintered on the issue. The largest union of flight attendants said it had “every expectation” the mandate would be extended beyond March, while industry trade group Airlines for America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other travel industry associations penned a letter to White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients calling for the immediate removal of travel requirements.
In December, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly testified that planes were safe, masked or not.
“The statistics I recall is that 99.97% of airborne pathogens are captured by the [high-efficiency particulate air] filtering system, and it’s turned over every two or three minutes,” he said during Senate testimony. “I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment. It’s very safe, and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting.”
That prompted Biden’s chief medical officer Anthony Fauci to say, “I don’t think so” when asked if it was safe to fly sans mandates.
United Airlines has also announced it would let its unvaccinated employees return to work later this month.
GOPers will likely continue on the anti-mandate warpath as long as restrictions exist. Ninety House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, signed a letter urging the Transportation Security Administration to allow its mask mandate to expire March 18 and will likely back a similar effort in April.
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Even in the absence of mandates, people are free to choose whether to wear a mask on public transit, on an airplane, or elsewhere, which some public health experts urge people to consider whether it’s required or not.
“Once there is no mandate, there may be value in voluntarily wearing a mask anyway,” Gronvall said.
