The federal mask mandate for airlines and other transportation systems is set to expire next week, but one of President Biden's top COVID-19 advisers says the possibility of extending it remains under consideration.
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On April 18, TSA will be permitted to lift mask mandates for trains, planes and transit. Dr. Ashish Jha with Brown University's School of Public Health said officials are working on what he calls a "scientific framework" that will guide their decisions.
The framework is expected to be ready in a few days, however, Congress needs to first come through with more money, Jha explained. "We need it for vaccines, we need to make sure we have plenty of testing available, we need to make sure we have plenty of treatments available. That's all going to be essential and we're going to need the resources to make sure we have that for the American people."
Dr. Andrew Noymer, epidemiologist and demographer at UC Irvine, weighed in on the conversation, stating to KCBS Radio that he would stay masked up even if the mandate is lifted.
"That's tricky. I know the airlines are pushing very hard to lift that, they're not happy about it. I personally would mask on any flight, whether or not the order is lifted, but that being said I am a big believer of being careful," he explained.
However, Noymer said he does understand the other side of the coin. "If I'm just sitting in my seat watching a movie on my seat back, I don't really care if I'm masking or not. The air on the airplanes is actually quite safe, it's HEPA filtered," he said. "I think going through the security line in TSA is probably a riskier affair than actually sitting in your airplane seat for four hours."
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