Washington appealed a court decision that had qualified on Monday, the federal obligation on the port of a sanitary mask in public transport of illegal.
Le Monde with AFP
The US government has given itself two days, the time for reflection and consultation, before announcing, Wednesday, April 20, that it appealed the court decision which lifted the mandatory port of the Mask in public transport in the United States. The Ministry of Justice had said he wanted to wait for the opinion of the main federal health agency of the country, the prevention and disease centers (CDC), before making a decision.
They declared, in a statement, that they were “of opinion, at the moment, an order requiring the port of the indoor mask in transport remains necessary for public health”. “As we have already said, wearing a mask brings especially a profit in very busy and little airy places,” they added to support their request to appeal.
This call comes after a federal judge estimated that the health authorities overlook their prerogatives by forcing the port of the mask in transport, for example in planes, trains or buses. In the wake, the country’s large airlines have abandoned the mask’s constraint, followed by the Amtrak railway company or VTC companies like Uber.
Some managers were subsequently concerned that this decision of a magistrate sitting in Florida suggests, if it was not fought, to restrict the authority of the CDCs in the future.
Sensitive topic
The US government’s call could complicate the situation, and possibly create tensions for travelers if the duty to the mask was finally restored, while it was already hardly respected.
The port of the mask is a very sensitive subject especially for the stewards and air hostesses, which had had, for two years, deal with the reluctance of many passengers, some becoming violent. It has been reported to the Air Transport Security Agency in the United States, FAA, 744 mask incidents since the beginning of the year.
The American Health Agency clarified that it would continue to constantly assess the health situation to determine whether such an obligation remains necessary in the future. She had decided last week to prolong the obligation of the port of the mask in public transport at least until May 3rd.
The United States is currently recording an increase in the number of daily COVID-19 cases linked to Omicron’s sub-variant BA.2.