State, public transit systems shift gears on demand for masks

Federal judge’s decision on strike down The Biden administration’s traffic mask mandate has prompted several local public transit systems around the country to waive their own requirements, drawing both praise and disparagement from customers.

Masks are now optional on buses in Atlanta, streetcars in New Orleans, and light rail in Portland, Oregon. Passengers also don’t need to worry about face coverings on public transit in Cincinnati, Des Moines, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Chicago. other places – a list that continues to grow on Tuesday.

The changes come after U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of Florida ruled Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mandate to wear masks on planes, trains and buses is illegal, leading to major US airlines and Amtrak to remove the request immediately.

That’s welcome news for Frank DeGarcia, who traveled from New Jersey to New York and found the mask rules to be arbitrary.

“It seemed to me that the average law-abiding person was doing it because we were asked to do it,” DeGarcia said. “We don’t necessarily wear them in restaurants, we don’t necessarily wear them in our offices, but miraculously we have to wear them on the subway. It just doesn’t make much sense. “

But others, who rely on trains and buses as their main means of transportation, fear that the rules have been lifted too soon.

“I am concerned that we are dropping our mandate to wear masks as new variations emerge,” said Jenny Lando, 51, of Queens, New York.

“Especially on public transport, sometimes it’s crowded and there’s not always good airflow.”

Authorization revocation is not common.

Northern California Bay Area Rapid Shipping (BART) and others have asked riders to keep their masks for now.

“BART officials are currently in contact with other transit agencies in the Bay Area and are looking into whether there is any movement at the local, state or federal level regarding this,” said spokeswoman Alicia Trost. duty to wear a mask for transit or not”. “BART has not made a final or final decision yet if mask authorization will continue on BART.”

Chicago failed for several hours on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Chicago Transit Authority, in a statement to NBC News, said it would continue to require face masks on public transit under an executive order from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

Later in the day, the governor’s office announced that he was amending the order and that masks would no longer be required.

The divergence policies have led to some confusion for commuters.

In the New York area, for example, the New York City Subway Transit Authority still requires its passengers to wear a mask, but passengers transiting in the state of New Jersey, which has dropped the requirement. If you need to wear a mask, you don’t need it anymore.

Lando, who used to use the MTA to get to work every morning, found himself traveling between both states to visit family. She said she kept her mask to be safe.

“I do the MTA almost daily and am very grateful that they maintain the mission of the mask. It’s a safe thing to do,” she said. Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a New York-based public transit advocacy group, said it makes sense that New York City, once the epicenter of the Covid outbreak in the US, would keep the measures in place. mine.

“Maybe in other parts of the country the judge’s decision is where everyone’s head is, but here I think most people feel most comfortable wearing a mask,” he said. “People don’t want to have to worry about putting Covid on top of all the other stuff going on.”

In Denver, which dropped the requirement to wear a mask on Tuesday morning, train passengers were told if they were still wearing masks.

Briannee Osteen, 25, said she will stop wearing a mask when using public transport.

“I usually wear a mask when there are a lot of people around and then I usually don’t wear it if I don’t have one. I am vaccinated,” she said, adding that her boyfriend had contracted Covid but she did not, even though they lived together. “I feel safe.”

But Theodis Moore, 72, says he will continue to wear a mask no matter what.

“I don’t want to catch anything. I feel safer with a mask,” he said.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here