The Justice Department will appeal a district judge’s decision to end the national mandate of masks on public transportation only if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the mandate is still needed, the department said. Tuesday in a statement. The DOJ added that it does not agree with the district court’s decision.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa overturned the CDC’s requirement to cover aircraft and other public transportation, saying the mandate exceeded the authority of U.S. health officials. Then the Transportation Security Administration said it would no longer enforce the mandate.
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The judge’s decision came after the CDC extended the mandate of the maskwhich was due to expire on Monday, in two weeks to give researchers more time to study the Omicron BA.2 subvariant.
“If the CDC concludes that a mandatory order is still necessary for public health after this assessment, the Department of Justice will appeal the district court’s decision,” the Justice Department said.
In a statement Tuesday night, the CDC said it “continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings.”
“We will continue to assess the need for a mask requirement in these environments, based on a variety of factors, including levels of the U.S. COVID-19 community, the risk of circulating and new variants, and case trends and the severity of disease, “the statement said.
However, the response to the sentence has been varied. Some cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, still require masks at airports and public transportation, while others, such as Houston and Atlanta, do not. Even the airlines they now have different rules to disguise himself, though most now say masks are optional for passengers. Amtrak has also said that masks are no longer needed on trains or stations.
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When asked on Tuesday if people should still wear masks on planes, President Biden replied, “It’s up to them,” according to The Associated Press.
Dr. Céline Gounder, an infectious disease expert and editor-in-chief of Kaiser Health News, told CBS Mornings that the CDC enlargement was the “proper” and “prudent” approach.
“We know this virus is mutating. In fact, it is mutating very quickly,” he said. “We’ll see more variants and see other pandemics after COVID. So I think the idea of stripping ourselves of a tool and an essential toolbox is a very bad idea.”
Victoria Albert contributed to the report.
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- Facial mask
- COVID-19[feminine]
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- United States Department of Justice
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