While the Covid continues to kill more than 400 people a day in the United States, a judge considered that we could not impose the wearing of the mask in public transport. The airlines immediately lifted the restrictions.
The most total confusion reigns in the United States on the wearing of the mask. Since Monday evening, it is no longer mandatory to cover your nose and mouth on a plane on American territory… But it still is in most airports. Similarly, in most of the country, you can do without a mask in taxis and VTCs… but not in New York, where it also remains compulsory in the subway. Even more ubiquitous: the authorities continue to impose it in New York at LaGuardia and JFK airports, but not in Newark, located in New Jersey, a few kilometres away.
A Florida judge ruled earlier this week that wearing a mask could not be imposed at the federal level on public transport. Immediately, the airlines announced to their passengers that they were free to remove their masks. Some did it mid-flight. On social networks, videos are circulating showing scenes of joy, and pilots did not hesitate to shout their satisfaction… On Tuesday, on most flights, three quarters of passengers had already removed the mask.
A fragmented country
But the soap opera may not be over. As of Tuesday, the spokesperson for the White House, Jen Psaki, regretted a “disappointing decision”. “We believe that the obligation to wear a mask should continue and that it is safer for passengers to wear one in flight,” she explained. “Public health decisions should not be made in courts but by experts, by science and hard data.
On Wednesday it was announced that the Justice Department would appeal the decision of mandatory mask wearing on transport. This decision came about after the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) ruled that it was necessary. Some experts noted, however, that an appeal would be heard by the reputedly conservative Eleventh Circuit, and therefore the federal bond was unlikely to be reinstated.
This situation is ultimately only the result of a completely fragmented policy. Since the start of the pandemic, under Donald Trump and then under Joe Biden, Washington did not wish, then did not manage to impose a united policy on the whole territory. The previous administration had left the decision-making power to the States, and Joe Biden never managed to change the situation.
The balance sheet is getting heavier
The court decision comes even as new Covid cases are on the rise in the United States. Over the past two weeks, they have jumped 47%, even if they remain at a modest level, far from the January peak (nearly 42,000 new cases for Tuesday, ten times less than during the busiest days). charged at the beginning of the year). While only 66% of the American population is fully vaccinated, more than 400 people continue to die from Covid every day across the Atlantic. The bar of one million victims could soon be reached.