On Monday a federal judge in Florida struck down the nationwide mask mandates for public transportation, including planes, trains and buses, leaving local jurisdictions to make their own rules.
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But this change may simply add more confusion to the already tangled collection of local and federal COVID-19 regulations, and also could have public health repercussions.
"There is nothing that happened yesterday that makes it any safer to travel without a mask today than yesterday," said KCBS Radio's political analyst Marc Sandalow on Tuesday.
"This was not a determination by health experts that we've gotten to the point of this pandemic where you don’t have to worry about it," he said. "It's not like there are new findings that traveling on airplanes should not require a mask."
At airports in the Bay Area, masking is no longer required. But some airlines may still require them, while others, like Southwest, are leaving the choice up to the individual passenger.
But for other local means of transportation, like BART, MUNI, and AC Transit, masking is still required.
The Florida judge ruled that the CDC has overstepped its authority in requiring masking based on an old order that allows the CDC, in the face of a public health disaster, to "mandate disinfection and various other means," said Sandalow.
The judge decried that masking doesn't qualify under this rule.
Since it's under federal jurisdiction, the Biden adminstration could appeal the ruling, but it's unclear if that will happen.
"That would be very very popular in some quarters but very unpopular in others," said Sandalow.
In the meantime, travelers on airplanes at least, will have the option to not wear a mask.
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