For at least another month you'll need to mask up on planes, trains, and buses:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing guidance that will ease the nationwide mask mandate on airplanes, buses and other mass transit next month, according to a U.S. official, but in the meantime the existing face covering requirement will be extended through April 18.
The requirement, which is enforced by the Transportation Security Administration, had been set to expire on March 18, but was extended by a month to allow the public health agency time to develop new, more targeted policies. The requirement extends to planes, buses, trains and transit hubs.
Personally, I don't care about this until May 18. But it would sure be nice to have the mask mandate gone by then.
Of course it would be nice. It would be nice not ever to have to wear a mask. It would be nice not to have to stand in line to board an aircraft, or turn phones off in flight, or stop at red lights. Many things would be nice not to do. But we do them because we all benefit from it, because it's our social responsibility.
It seems odd that this needs to be explained over and over to a certain segment of our adult population ...
I'll probably keep masking up on planes. If nothing else, it prevents all sorts of other respiratory illnesses and increases local humidity. Some people like getting sick. I'm one of the weirdos who can do without it.
I'm thinking of masking more from now on. My allergies have never been better, I can't recall the last time I had a cold, and I don't have to shave every day.
Ditto. I always seem to get the sniffles on flights, but haven't since our totalitarian regime of iron-fisted mandates went into effect.
It also seems to put a slight damper on random conversation, another huge plus on planes.
Personally, I've accepted that US is too immature to be competent enough to manage a pandemic, and will behave accordingly if anything truly frightening comes along.
Otherwise, at least for me, the only rational approach is to say fuck it. I don't care what you do, so long as you don't try to rip my mask off. And if you do, you will pull back a stump, because that's the only way some people learn.
Just in time for the summer wave to begin!
Personally, I don't care about this until May 18.
Where are you going in May?
Kevin, not to state the obvious, but between cancer and diabetes you're kind of a walking comorbidity. You sure you should be this gung ho to jump on a plane without a mask?
Exactly what I was thinking, too.
The US needs a color-coded system so that each individual mitigation measure can be independently scaled up/down as needed -- and you know we're going to need it later this year, just saying.
Yes, I think it's a great idea to be stuck in a 12 foot wide aluminum tube, packed in 6 across with about 200 strangers for 6-8 hours, with everyone maskless. Afterall, the so called "pandemic" is finally over for good, with no chance of future surges, and the virus is getting less deadly and far less infectious. I am sure that the immuno compromised, the elderly, those with multiple comorbidities, and non maskable (and not vaccinated) infants and toddlers will all be just fine. And if they don't fucking like it, they can drive the 3,000 mile transcontinental route instead.
I wish the new targeted policies had been developed faster, and kept ready for rolling out when the data warranted. Instead, we get "extended by a month to allow the public health agency time to develop new, more targeted policies."
I wonder if we ought to have an annual pro-active Stop the Viruses event, where everyone is asked to get vaccinated, wear their masks, and limit get-togethers for two weeks. Time it for October or November, maybe. This is based on a hope that we won't get another big covid wave before then, but we should expect it to come back at some point, along with influenza.
Imagine what would happen if we had one airline just for people who refuse o wear masks.
There would be a lot hospitalized idiots fairly quickly, other airlines would insist that their terminal be walled off, and there would be no one to fly the planes.
So all these idiots would then be unable to fly.
Where is the downside?
who'd man those planes???
Well...22 states and PR at moderate levels of transmission (old definition). It would be great if we could get down less than 5 new cases/day/100K...maybe a pipe dream.
Seriously, this whining about masking is pissing me off. Social-worker types have been assuring us that we are deeply traumatized by having to wear masks and the right wing has lapped this up with fervor.
We have right now an example of how "deeply traumatized" really looks like over in Ukraine. People who still complain about masking and how terribly insufferable it is should be made to shut up. And social workers: Please stop encouraging people to feel sorry for themselves over trivia!
Sitting on a plane is literally the easiest place in the world to wear a mask. Wearing a mask is hard (well not that hard) when you are talking or teaching or engaging in physical activity. It’s hard if it is raining or super hot, It is super easy when you are just sitting in a nice climate controlled seat watching a screen or reading a book.