Yesterday’s decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to extend the federal mask mandate by two weeks was understandable, according to one of the nation’s most prominent health experts.
“At this point, I think we can lift the mandate,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday. “But I'm not surprised we extended it out a couple of weeks in a setting of a surge or BA.2 infections.” For at least the past two weeks, the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant of omicron has been dominant in the United States.
“I think the bigger question is what do they do after the two weeks,” said Gottlieb. “There is some scuttlebutt that [the CDC] won’t lift the mask mandate entirely, but they'll require passengers to wear masks when they come on to planes and when they come off the planes.”
“Those are the highest risk points in time — when you’re boarding or when you’re coming off — because you’re congregating without the good air filtration,” said Gottlieb, adding that the air filtration “is only good once the engines start and the air is actually moving. The two most dangerous points in time are when you get on and off the plane when the air filtration isn't on.”
For months, the mask mandate has been a bone of contention between the CDC and airlines. Last month, the chief executives of the seven U.S. airlines — Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, United and Southwest — asked President Biden to end the mask mandate and drop the pre-departure testing requirement for international travelers coming to the U.S.
Recent public surveys suggest, however, that about six in 10 Americans would like the government to keep the mandate in place. Sixty percent of respondents polled by The Harris Poll Covid-19 tracking survey in early April said they supported extending the mask mandate. Similarly, 60% of US adults in a Morning Consult survey in March said they believe travel and hospitality companies should require customers to wear masks. Notably, however, those who planned to travel within the next three months were more likely to support keeping face mask mandates.
If the mask mandate is allowed to expire in two weeks but partial restrictions remain in place, Gottlieb expects objections. “It's gonna be very hard for the airlines to enforce,” he said. “I think that's going to get a lot of pushback.”
