The Biden administration will extend the public transportation mask mandate for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Wednesday.
The mask mandate currently applies to air travel and public transportation, including trains and buses. The mandate was set to expire on April 18, however the CDC will extend it for two weeks while monitoring for a potential rise in severe Covid cases due to an Omicron sub-variant.
“In order to assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC Order will remain in place at this time,” the agency said in a statement to media outlets.
The mandate will be implemented by the Transportation Security Administration, and will now expire on May 3.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said on Monday that an extension was “absolutely on the table” because of the spread of the new sub-variant.
While many airlines began requiring travelers to wear face masks in 2020, the CDC first announced a federal mask mandate for air travel and public transportation in January 2021, days after Biden assumed office as president. Following recommendations from the CDC, the TSA has extended the mask mandate for travelers four times since then, most recently in March.
The latest extension comes after ten airline CEOs, including the heads of Southwest, Delta, United, and American Airlines, signed an open letter urging the Biden administration to end the mandate for air travel.
“It makes no sense that people are still required to wear masks on airplanes, yet are allowed to congregate in crowded restaurants, schools and at sporting events without masks, despite none of these venues having the protective air filtration system that aircraft do,” the letter states.