Biden to enact mask mandate, rejoin Paris Agreement on first day of presidency
Biden expected to sign about a dozen executive orders on day one, incoming chief of staff says; Peter Doocy reports from the White House.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order Friday night mandating masks on all public transportation, including airplanes, trains, and buses.
The order, which goes into effect Monday, says individuals "must wear masks over the mouth and nose when traveling on conveyance into and within the United States," as well as "at transportation hubs," such as airports, bus terminals, marinas, and subway stations.
People are allowed to remove their masks when eating and drinking.
Major airlines already require passengers to wear masks during flights, and they have gotten stricter in recent months about the types of masks people must wear.
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Dr. Marty Cetron, director of the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at the CDC, told reporters this week that the Biden administration is considering requiring a recent negative COVID-19 test in order to fly domestically, according to Reuters.
New rules just went into effect this week that require all international travelers flying into the United States to have a recent negative COVID-19 test.
"Testing does not eliminate all risk, but when combined with a period of staying at home and everyday precautions like wearing masks and social distancing, it can make travel safer, healthier, and more responsible by reducing spread on planes, in airports, and at destinations," CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said.
One of President Joe Biden's first executive orders last week was to instruct all federal agencies to "immediately take action, to the extent appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to require masks to be worn in compliance with CDC guidelines."
The CDC drafted a similar order last September that would have mandated masks on all public transportation, but the Trump administration blocked it, the New York Times reported.
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The airline industry has cratered amid the coronavirus pandemic. The TSA screened just 324 million people at airports last year, which is just 39% of the 824 million people screened the year before.
Coronavirus continues to rage throughout the United States though, with an average of more than 155,000 new cases and 3,236 deaths a day over the last week, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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