Most U.S. travelers support mask regulations on planes, trains and public transportation, poll finds

Most Americans continue to support the requirement for masks for people traveling by plane and other public transportation, according to a new survey. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government waiting for transport mask warrant.

A survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to this requirement it has often prompted verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants56% of Americans are in favor of requiring people on airplanes, trains, and public transportation to wear masks, compared to 24% against and 20% who say they are neither for nor against.

Interviews for the survey were conducted Thursday through Monday, shortly before a Florida federal judge overturned the national mask mandate for aircraft and public transportation. Airlines and airports immediately they ruled out their requirements that passengers wear masquerades.

The Transportation Security Administration stopped applying the mask requirementand the Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will appeal the ruling if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determines that it is still necessary.

The poll shows a broad partisan division on the issue. Among Democrats, 80% are in favor and only 5% oppose the requirement. Among Republicans, 45% oppose 33% in favor, and 22% say neither.

Vicki Pettus, who recently moved from Frankfort, Kentucky to Clearwater, Florida, to be close to her grandchildren, said she liked the view of Old Tampa Bay, but did not like the “very casual attitude.” of Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican. , about masking. He said he will continue to wear his mask to protect himself from the coronavirus, even around his 55-year-old home community and on the plane when he travels to Kentucky in a few weeks.

“Especially on a plane where that air is recirculating,” said Pettus, 71, an independent leaning toward the Democratic Party. “I think people are too stupid not to wear their mask. But hey, that’s their decision, and if they want to get sick, that’s fine. I won’t.”

But Kriste Lee, who works in sales in South Florida, can’t wait to fly without a mask the next time she travels next month.

“I wish I was on a plane when they made this announcement,” said Lee, 47. “He would have been dancing up and down the hall.”

Continued support among Americans in general for forcing masks into transportation comes to the same concerns about COVID-19 they are among their lowest points in the last two years. Only 20% now say they are very or very worried that they or a family member will be infected. This has dropped slightly since 25% said the same thing just a month ago and since 36% in December and January The Omicron variant was furious. Another 33% now say they are a little worried, while 48% say they are not at all worried.

The death toll from COVID in the United States is nearly 1 million

Count Betty Harp, of Leitchfield, Kentucky, as one of the “very concerned” and not because she turns 84 next month. She said she takes care of her big house and garden by herself, makes a lot of preserves and has “fantastic health for my age”. But it has lost many friends and family to the virus, which has killed nearly 1 million people in the United States.

“I know COVID is still here. It’s still there,” said Harp, who described herself as a Republican-leaning independent. “I think we should all wear masks for a while longer.”

In another AP-NORC poll last month, 44% of Americans still said they often or always wore masks away from home, although that dropped significantly from 65% earlier. of the year.

The latest survey also shows that about half of Americans are in favor of demanding masks for workers who interact with the public, compared to about 3 in 10 who oppose it. Support is similar to requiring people to wear masks at crowded public events, such as concerts, sporting events, and movies.

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On these, there are also important partisan divisions. Seventy-two percent of Democrats are in favor of requiring people attending crowded public events to wear masks, while among Republicans, 25% are in favor and 49% are against. The figures are similar to demanding masks for public workers.

Lee, who said he does not “do politics,” wondered aloud why people complain about the judge’s ruling and said no one prevents anyone from wearing masks if they want to.

“We all have our beliefs and obviously different opinions,” said Lee, who is not vaccinated. “Mine are definitely different from people who are angry and upset.”

Jobs, schools, divided restaurants

Busy Americans are divided on whether people who work in person at their own jobs should forced to wear masks. 34% say they are in favor of this requirement, 33% are against it and 33% are neither for nor against it. Among Democratic workers, 48% are in favor and 18% are against. Among Republican workers, 53% are opposed and 18% are in favor.

At schools across the country, mask mandates are returning as COVID-19 cases increase in the United States As of April 11, Columbia University in New York City requires students to wear masks without clothing in classrooms, according to a student-run news site. The mask mandate, which will run for the rest of the spring semester, applies to all students, but not teachers, for whom masks are optional.

As reported by CBS News’s Charlie De Mar, some restaurant owners in Chicago – where mask and vaccination requirements for bars and restaurants were raised in late February – believe that anything resembling a return to normalcy is good for business. Restaurants across the country continue to struggle to reach the end of the month, more than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to close.

Mike Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said the messages about the mask’s mandate would have been more effective if necessary. N95 or KN95 respiratorswhich are more effective in preventing the transmission of the virus.

“But you have actually created a real challenge for yourself with the public that is now being selective, if not completely angry at these mandates,” said Osterholm, who added that he will continue to wear his N95 mask on planes.

The AP-NORC survey of 1,085 adults was conducted April 14-18 using a sample taken from the AmeriSpeak panel based on NORC probabilities, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The sample margin of error of all respondents is more or less 3.9 percentage points.

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