The CDC is planning to extend its mandate requiring travelers on planes and other forms of public transportation to wear masks for another two weeks from April 18, according to reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will extend its mandate requiring travelers on planes and other forms of public transportation to wear masks for another two weeks from April 18, the agency said Wednesday, to allow for more time to assess the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant of coronavirus that has led to a rise in Covid-19 cases in several states.Key Facts
The agency decided to extend the mandate for 15 days through May 3 to “assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity,” it said in a statement. The decision comes with the seven-day moving average of daily Covid-19 cases at roughly 30,000 as of April 11, up 20 % from a week ago, according to the CDC.When the CDC extended the federal mask mandate in March to April 18, the agency said it would use the time period to create a “framework” to decide when masks would be required, evaluating factors such as levels of severe illness or the emergence of new variants.