A preventive tool, a source of sometimes violent conflict, the mask has become optional for both passengers and employees on planes, Uber vehicles and most public transport in the United States, a decision that has aroused both cheers and annoyance. in the USA.
“Finally,” exclaims a passenger on board a Delta plane just after the pilot came to announce in the cabin, in mid-flight, that the obligation to wear the mask was lifted “with immediate effect”, see- on in a video posted on Twitter. Applause erupts.
Washington had decided last week to extend the obligation to wear a mask on public transport until at least May 3. But a federal judge ruled on Monday that the health authorities were overstepping their prerogatives and reversed the decision, prompting the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) to lift the requirement.
The new instructions did not take long to fall. The country’s major airlines, which had for the most part made the mask compulsory in the spring of 2020, abandoned the constraint in the process, in the evening, followed by the rail company Amtrak. Transportation companies Uber and Lyft followed suit on Tuesday morning.
The mask remains for the moment de rigueur in the New York subway and buses. And the authority overseeing New York airports had not immediately announced any changes.
With the decline of COVID-19, the rise in vaccination and weariness with wearing masks, local American authorities have gradually eased the instructions in recent months. But it was still necessary to cover your face on public transport.
“Irresponsibility”
This change in policy may be short-lived. On Tuesday evening, the Justice Department announced that it would appeal the judge’s decision if health authorities determine that the mask requirement should remain in effect. The government “continues to believe that requiring mask-wearing on transportation is a good use of the authority that Congress has given to the CDC [Centres de prévention et de lutte contre les maladies] to protect public health,” he said in a statement.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday that the judge’s decision was “disappointing”.
Some are upset by these sudden changes.
Tatiana Prowell, professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins Health Center, remarks on Twitter having received many messages from immunocompromised people with cancer worrying about traveling on flights without masks. “In addition to wearing N95 masks, I advise them to travel on less busy days and times if possible,” she wrote, decrying the “irresponsibility” of airlines for allowing mask removal in mid-flight.
According to a YouGov poll of 7,802 adults on April 18, just before the judge’s decision, 63% of respondents support the obligation to wear a mask on public transport.
The Air Staff Association-CWA has not taken a position on the matter because its members are divided on the issue, union president Sara Nelson told CNBC on Tuesday.
Wearing a mask is a very sensitive subject for cabin crew, who for two years have had to deal with the reluctance of many passengers, some becoming violent. The agency in charge of air transport safety in the United States, the FAA, has still been reported to 744 incidents related to the mask since the beginning of the year. “There is absolutely a sigh of relief from the crews, but there are also people who are really worried,” summarized Sara Nelson.
All transport organizations stress that everyone is free to continue wearing the mask, especially in the event of personal risks or a high level of transmission of COVID-19 in the region. “We know that each person is more or less comfortable” with the new instructions, remarks Lyft in a message. Both drivers and passengers can “cancel any journey they do not wish to make”.