The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday released new guidelines saying they “strongly recommend that appropriate masks be worn by all passengers and by all staff” operating public transportation across the country. Including train stations, terminals and airports, to help slow spiral coronavirus infections.
The Trump administration has so far refused to issue a national mandate on face masks, choosing to leave those rules to state and local leaders to determine. The president himself said he wore a mask “when needed”, but he denigrated other politicians and journalists for wearing masks, mocking a reporter at a White House press conference as “politically correct” for his decision not to remove his mask to ask a question.
Releasing its new “provisional guidance” note on Monday, the CDC called masks “one of the most effective strategies available to reduce COVID-19 transmission, “and said tight fitting face coverings” are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when widely used by people in public places. Widespread use of masks in particular helps protect people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 as well as workers who frequently come into close contact with other people (for example., in airports, seaports or other docks, bus and train stations). ”
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