The appeal will therefore proceed only if the CDC consider this obligation still necessary.
The Biden Administration continues to believe that mandating face coverings on transportation is a good use of the authority Congress has given to CDC to protect public health
Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said in a statement the day after a Florida judge decided to end the requirement to wear masks on planes, trains and shopping malls. of transit.
He added that it was an important authority that the department will continue to strive to preserve.
As of Tuesday, the agency had not yet made a decision, officials said.
The day before, federal judge Kimball Mizelle, appointed by Donald Trump, considered that the health authorities had exceeded their prerogatives, pushing the Transport Security Agency (TSA) to lift the obligation to wear a mask.
On Monday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki ruled disappointing
the judge’s decision, adding that the CDC continued to recommend wearing a mask on public transport
.
Recently, the CDC have extended until May 3 the obligation to wear the mask which was previously due to end on Monday. The goal was to allow more time to learn more about the Omicron subvariant called BA.2, which is the strain responsible for the majority of current cases in the United States.
The legal challenge to the mask requirement was filed in July 2021 by two plaintiffs supported by the Health Freedom Defense Fund (Health Freedom Defense Fund), described by the judge as a non-profit organization that opposes laws and rules that force individuals to receive medical treatment, undergo medical procedures, or have medical devices forced upon them against their will
.
Disparate rules
With the decline of COVID-19, the rise in vaccination and weariness with wearing masks, local American authorities have gradually eased the instructions in recent months. Monday’s decision eliminated the last significant vestige of federal rules to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking patchy local rules reflecting the country’s current divisions.
The cities of New York, Chicago and others in Connecticut continued to require masks for travelers.
The main airlines as well as the airports of Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City have adopted a policy making the wearing of masks optional as of Monday, followed by the rail company Amtrak.
Los Angeles County has also lifted the requirement to wear a mask on public transport.
A New Jersey conductor responded by telling riders: Feel free to burn them.
Ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber have also announced on their websites that masks will now be optional for both passengers and drivers.
Even Walt Disney World in Florida announced it was lifting its mask-wearing requirement on its monorail, buses, and gondola system.
Tatiana Prowell, professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins Health Center, said on Twitter that she received many messages from immunocompromised people with cancer worrying about traveling on flights that do not require the wearing of masks.
