Biden is pressured to end mask mandates on public transportation

Biden is pressured to end mask mandates² on public transportation

Transcript³

Airline CEOs say it's time to end the requirement that everyone wear masks in airports and on planes. The Biden administration has extended the mask mandate¹ until mid-April.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

OK, you don't have to wear a mask in a whole lot of public places now, but travelers and commuters are still required to mask up on airplanes and in airports, as well as on trains, buses and other public transportation. The Biden administration is under growing pressure to end those rules. Here's NPR's David Schaper reporting from Chicago.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE⁴: President Biden imposed the mask requirement in one of his first acts in office in January of last year. Last month, his administration extended it through April 18. But after a four-hour flight from Los Angeles to Chicago's O'Hare Airport, 23-year-old Fredo Rodriguez had had enough of wearing a face mask.

FREDO RODRIGUEZ: I'm not really all for the mask stuff - kind of been over it for about, like, a year now, you know? As much as I see people take them on and off and, you know, it just doesn't really make sense to me, the rules and the guidelines, compared to what people are actually doing.

SCHAPER: Rodriguez is hardly alone. In fact, many have bristled⁵ at wearing a mask since the pandemic began, and being forced to wear one on a plane has led to outbursts, fights and even arrests.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: OK, it's a rule. Put the mask on.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Do you guys go with everything...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Put the mask on.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I don't have a problem putting the mask on. Now he wants me to get off.

SCHAPER: When a passenger refused to wear a mask on this Southwest flight last week, the crew had to empty the plane so she could be removed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: We have to take everyone off the airplane.

(SOUNDBITE OF PEOPLE SHOUTING)

SCHAPER: The FAA received nearly 6,000 reports of unruly airline passenger incidents last year, an all-time high. More than 70% of them were caused by mask conflicts. Airline CEOs who encouraged the White House to impose the mask mandate last year now say the time has come to end it. In a joint⁶ letter to the president, the CEOs say much has changed since the mandate was imposed, and it no longer makes sense in the current public health context, citing declining COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates. In extending the mandate last month, officials said the CDC would work to revise the policy framework for when and under what circumstances masks should be required in public transportation. But 21 mostly Republican-led states are not waiting for those revisions. They filed a lawsuit⁷ against the Biden administration, seeking to end the mandate, led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RON DESANTIS: In Florida, we've been very clear that we want people to be able to make their own decisions. We don't believe in COVID theater.

SCHAPER: But despite the clamor to let passengers go mask-free, public health experts aren't so sure it's a good idea.

LEONARD MARCUS: A lot's going to depend on the course of the BA.2 variant⁸.

SCHAPER: Leonard Marcus is director of the Aviation Public Health Initiative at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

MARCUS: So far, it's been a very low rumble⁹. If it continues as a low rumble, I think we're at the point where we can lift that requirement to have masks worn on planes and in public transportation.

SCHAPER: But if BA.2 causes a big surge in COVID cases, as it has in Europe, Marcus says the Biden administration may need to keep the mask mandate in place. Julia Raifman teaches at Boston University School of Public Health and leads the COVID-19 state policy database there. She says the administration should keep requiring masks for everyone on planes and other modes of transit¹⁰.

JULIA RAIFMAN: COVID does spread in all crowded indoor spaces. It is harmful when it spreads. And mask mandates help reduce that spread. And it's especially important for protecting people who are vulnerable, but also for protecting our society.

SCHAPER: And Raifman says if the Biden administration does lift the mask mandate, then it will be politically much more difficult to reinstate it if COVID-19 cases surge again.

David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

2 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

9 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

10 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。