With the more transmissible strains of covid it’s becoming more important than ever that people wear masks. Plus the vaccine rollout has been delayed due to lack of supplies and a complete lack of planning from the previous, murderous administration. On President Biden’s first day he signed an executive order that required people to wear masks on federal property. Now the CDC has issued a new order that requires masks on all forms of public transportation including planes, buses, trains, and subways. The order also requires those standing in a transportation hub to wear masks, making not wearing a mask in and around public transportation a federal offense. Below is more on the story from People:
According to the order, which goes into effect Monday, Feb. 1 at 11:59 p.m., all travelers must wear a face mask while “awaiting, boarding, disembarking, or traveling on airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares as they are traveling into, within, or out of the United States and U.S. territories.”
Travelers must also wear masks while at transportation hubs such as airports, bus or ferry terminals, trains and subway stations, seaports, or any location where people board public transportation.
The order states that a mask must completely cover the passenger’s mouth and nose. However, travelers may remove their face masks while eating, drinking or taking medication.
A mask is also not required while communicating with a person who is hearing impaired when the “ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.”
The CDC said children under 2 years old as well as those who cannot wear a mask due to a disability are not required to wear a face covering. The health organization “reserves the right to enforce through criminal penalties,” the order stated.
I am so happy that Biden came into office and went to work. It is absolutely appalling that the U.S. is fast approaching half a million COVID deaths in less than a year, although deaths and cases are slowing down. The vaccine is slowly being administered which will hopefully do more to stem infection rates. It will take collective efforts of wearing masks, social distancing and taking all precautions to slow this down. It is also currently being advised that we should double mask particularly because of the more contagious variant.
Biden’s team of competent and effective scientists, especially Dr. Fauci, are also giving me some relief. However, the Trump administration’s handling of this pandemic has cost us not only our economy but way too many lives. Recently, a mob of white supremacist “anti-vaxxers” stormed and temporarily shut down a vaccine site at Dodger’s Stadium in LA. It is time that we start treating these people who refuse to wear masks, spit in people’s faces and shut vaccine sites as they truly are, terrorists and a hazard to public health. Last year was intentionally traumatic for the most of us and I truly believe that we all are suffering from collective trauma and loss. I am happy to see that the Biden administration is taking public health and safety seriously and that they will have real consequences for anti-maskers
Photos credit: Getty and Anna Shvets on Pexels
We’ll have a civil war over mask wearing. The simplest thing yet so difficult for so many.
you just know that in hot-bed conservative cities/states these mask mandates will not be enforced or will lead to crazies pulling out their firearms.
that shut down was in LA tho….I’m jussayin.. the city with the highest infection rate is in California. soooo
Just from looking at social media I’ve noticed a LOT of people, especially in L.A. and D.C., are “being so safe” even as they operate under the misunderstanding that a negative Covid swab serves as permission to gather and socialize. Covid swabs almost never give false positives, but they do give false negatives between 25% and 40% of the time. According to Johns Hopkins, that 25% false-negative rate is in the “best” of testing circumstances (i.e. it’s been 8 days or more since the individual became symptomatic). But if you run to get swabbed immediately after you think you were exposed to Covid, you always will test negative — the rate of false negatives is literally 100% when you test right away. A lot of people finally get their first positive swab when they’re already recovering.
In short, a negative Covid swab is barely useful. A positive swab, however, IS useful when you’re attempting to do contact tracing, or in determining cause of death.
I’ve had to wear the bull$hit for almost a year now. How convenient that everyone else has to, just now.
Finally some basic common sense!!
You have to wear a mask on a plane- up until the point they pass out snacks…. it is counter-intuitive and unnecessary.
I know flight crews just want to keep the animals docile and manageable while the machine is in the sky, but the snacks need to stop.
And there should be a fine for “wearing” a mask below your nose.
I have to ride the train into Philly for work every day. They’ve had a mask mandate since the beginning of the pandemic. Announcements and signs all over the place. Most people do comply. However, there’s always one or two jerks who wearing their masks inappropriately (below the nose) or not at all.
Sadly, I doubt this will change any of that.
Please can someone please enforce this in the NYC subways. The last two months it’s gotten more and more negligent to the point that every day on every ride to and from work, I see *at least* five people with mask pulled to chin or none at all.
About time, once you begin ticketing and fining people that’s when they learn.