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CDC Requires Face Masks on Airlines, Public Transportation

CDC Requires Face Masks on Airlines, Public Transportation

    To slow the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a rule on Friday that all travelers on airplanes and public transportation, such buses and subways, will be required to wear face masks starting just before midnight on Monday.

    Building on an order that President Joe Biden announced Jan. 21, the new rule “will protect Americans and provide confidence that we can once again travel safely even during this pandemic,” said Dr. Marty Cetron, the director of the CDC’s division of migration and quarantine, who signed the order.

    The CDC order makes refusal to wear a mask on airplanes, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-shares a violation of federal law, which will be enforced by the Transportation Security Administration and other federal, state and local authorities.

   While using public transportation of any kind, all travelers must wear masks that cover their noses and mouths while riding and while getting on and off rides, says the new rule, which extends to waiting areas in airports, train platforms and subway stations.

   Airlines, which already require masks, have banned more than 2,000 passengers for refusing to wear them.    The new federal rule was influenced in part from flight attendant unions, who argued that a federal rule would make it easier for crews to enforce the mask requirement.

    The CDC said that actual face masks are required and face coverings, such as face shields, bandanas, masks with exhalation valves, and masks that are too big or otherwise do not fit properly are not good enough to comply with the rule. The CDC does, however, allow travelers to remove masks while eating or drinking.

   In addition, the order exempts children under the age of 2 and people with disabilities for whom masks are unsafe.

Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit


BDE: HaRav HaGaon Dovid Soloveichik.
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  • 11:06 AM

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