CDC defends mask wearing

A senior US health official who signed a sweeping order for masks to be worn on nearly all forms of public transport said they were a key tool in preventing Covid-19 transmission even as some legislators call for ending the rules.

Marty Cetron, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, told Reuters on Thursday the agency’s “current position” is the mandate should not be lifted.

“Masks are really powerful and we should make sure they’re part of our arsenal,” Cetron said. “We mask not just to protect ourselves we mask because it’s the way we take care and express our concern for each other.”

The rules in place since January require masks to be worn by all travellers on planes, ships, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares and at transport hubs such as airports, bus or ferry terminals, train and subway stations and ports.

“The truth is that the unvaccinated portion that’s out there is extremely vulnerable,” he said, especially in an indoor transportation hub “where the ventilation may not be optimised.”

A group of Republican legislators last week introduced laws to prohibit mask mandates for public transport, arguing they no longer make sense with a growing number of Americans getting vaccinated. Republican Representative Andy Biggs said transit mask rules “are being kept in place by those who relish controlling our day-to-day lives.”

In mid-May, the CDC said fully vaccinated people could avoid wearing masks indoors in most places with some exceptions like transit.

The mask mandate has been a huge source of friction on US planes. The Federal Aviation Administration said last Tuesday that since January 1 it has received 3,420 unruly passenger reports, including 2,559 for refusing to wear masks.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said yesterday was the single-busiest day since February 2020, with nearly 2.2-million passengers.

“I get we’re all just over this emotionally, but I do think we will succeed together if we realise the virus is the enemy and it’s not your fellow citizen or the person sitting next to you on a plane or a piece of cloth that you have to wear over your face,” Cetron said.

The CDC transit mask order has no expiration date. In April, the TSA extended its mask requirement to September 13.

“As long as the CDC order is in place, the expectation is the implementing modes ... would continue with their own directives,” Cetron said.

“We will not wait until September to re-evaluate,” he said, adding the CDC is regularly reviewing the mandate.