US govt appeals against decision to end masks on public transport

WASHINGTON • United States President Joe Biden's administration has appealed against a federal court ruling striking down a mask requirement for passengers on planes, trains, buses and other public transport.

The Justice Department appeal came after the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that the mandate was necessary to protect the public from the spread of the coronavirus.

The decision on Wednesday came two days after a federal judge in Florida struck down the mask mandate and set off a rush among airlines, some public transit systems and even Uber and Lyft to abandon mask requirements.

The CDC is also pressing the appeal to preserve its public health powers. If the ruling striking down the mandate is upheld, that could permanently weaken the agency's authority.

The legal moves do not change the status of the mask mandate, which cannot be reinstated unless the administration wins a stay of the US District Court's order.

Legal experts said it was likely that the administration would ask for a stay, and that if it does, the court could decide whether to grant it within days.

The Justice Department's appeal comes amid rising cases in a majority of states, as the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant threatens to unleash another deadly wave.

The mandate had been in place since shortly after Mr Biden took office in January 2021, and was to have expired on Monday.

But the CDC extended it until May 3 to give public health experts time to assess whether it should be continued.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear the case, has a conservative bent, and the case could end up before the Supreme Court, which is also dominated by conservatives.

In the decision she issued on Monday, Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle voided the transport mandate on several grounds, including that the agency had exceeded its legal authority under the Public Health Service Act of 1944.

The CDC has limited regulatory authority; by and large, the power to impose public health restrictions lies with state and local governments. But legal experts agree that inter-state transport is a notable exception.

Some public health experts argued against extending the transportation mask mandate so as not to potentially lead to a higher court permanently constraining the CDC's powers.

Despite mask requirements being removed, a majority of Americans still support them, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.

Several travellers interviewed the day after the federal court decision complained that it put many people at added risk, especially those who are immunocompromised. They said they would continue to mask up, mandate or no mandate.

The poll, published on Wednesday, found that 56 per cent of Americans favoured requiring people on planes, trains and buses to wear masks, while 24 per cent opposed such requirements.

The poll was conducted in all 50 states from April 14 to Monday, before the court decision.

The poll also showed a large partisan divide on the issue of mask requirements, akin to those over many other aspects of the pandemic.

Eighty per cent of Democratic respondents said they favoured requiring masks on public transport, compared with 33 per cent of Republicans.

There were comparable partisan gaps over mask mandates for crowded public events and for public-facing workers.

NYTIMES, REUTERS