Federal Mask Mandate Lifted by Judge

A Federal judge has struck down the mask mandate for travel and the CDC has lifted travel restrictions for 90 countries.

Link to article.

While this is an interesting development, please be aware that other countries still have restrictions in place and that foreign airline's aircraft are extraterritorial and the laws of the flag state apply. So if you fly Alitalia, Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways, etc. you will still legally have to wear a mask.

tradewinds--If you think that the CDC will not appeal that ruling, I think you also believe in the Easter bunny. That's the ruling of one local district court Judge here in Florida. Now, it MAY become moot as of May 4, if they decide to lift it, but I wouldn't count on that either.

Carol, don't shoot the messenger!

I'm just saying, that just because one low level federal judge says something, doesn't mean that will be the end of it.

However, this judge's decision provides political cover for the CDC to drop the mandate and not reinstate a fairly unpopular position.

Could be. I was very surprised when the Justice Dept refused to comment on whether they would appeal.

It will be really interesting to see what happens tomorrow at U.S. airports and on U.S. carriers. Could be chaos!

I continue to be surprised by the American judicial system. There are 1770 federal judges, and can it really be that federal policy for all of the USA can be determined by just one opinion from one of these judges (who are appointed for life)?

There is always the option to appeal and judge shopping is very common in the US system. In this case it makes little sense to appeal something set to end in a few weeks.

That is why we have the appellate system balanced by the legislative branch, supposedly.

Given the amount of immunity from covid inferred from vaccines and immunity from the BA.1 spike, I'm pretty sure that masks don't serve their intended purpose anymore. Not to mention the quality (or lack of consistency thereof) of masks being a used for travel such as poorly fitted or cloth masks. This mask mandate has turned into a poorly managed situation.

I'm looking forward to travelling without a mask, but I support other's right to wear one.

Well said CarolinaSailor! I'd love to buy that Judge a beer.

In my experience how people feel about this system is entirely dependent on how the relevant decision aligns with their own political views.

The judge is either a righteous hero or a rogue nut job.

Appointed by, and whose husband worked for?

Alaska Airline announced that they are now mask optional on flights. Away we go.

Looks like all the airlines are dropping mask requirements. Virtual impossible to ask employees to enforce wearing masks in light of the judges ruling. Would have been a nightmare.

At least one pilot on a Delta flight announced mid-flight that the mandate had been lifted.

The DOJ has appealed the judge's ruling.

Not at all surprised, just surprised the appeal wasn't immediate. What's unclear is what the effect will be, as so far apparently they haven't asked to re-impose the mandate, pending the appeal.

I am a little surprised. I kinda thought the administration would just move on knowing it was going to expire soon anyway. I think this will be quite difficult to reimpose now.

I suspect they are appealing it to insure it does not become case law in the future and limit the CDC and government options for future issues. I would be very shocked if they attempted to reintroduce the mask mandate.

You are right, flood gates have been opened. Don't think they are looking to reimpose at this point.
They just want to block the Fed judge's order overriding the Fed CDC.
Allowing one federal judge to block the efforts of another fed agency does not set a good precedent.
Unless of course this happens to be ruling issued by the supreme court.
Another fine mess.

... like George said above.

cwoody--yes, that makes sense. I have a whole lot more I could say on the subject, but I will refrain, considering all of it is political.

I agree mask mandates have unfortunately been a political issue for a long while. Scott Gottleib, a former FDA head, is often on tv giving his opinion on networks across the political spectrum. I have found him the least political and more practical than any of the other experts I’ve seen. Even though he was on the board of Pfizer, I never once saw anything like promoting their vaccine.

The day after the judges ruling he was on CNBC. His opinion was that the controversy was the fault of the cdc. He said while the FDA has long had procedures in place to decide upon actions based on data, the CDC has no such process. As a result their decisions are by definition arbitrary and seen as political and that undermines credibility. It is a government entity that has little experience mandating national policy. He said they need data driven decisions.

His advice was for people who wanted to mask or had underlying illness or immune compromised they should wear a well fitting kn95 or N95 mask at least on boarding and exiting the plane. That is more key to their personal protection than making everyone to wear Ill fitting cloth masks they are not wanting to wear he said..

If they reverse the finding it will cause more fights on flights than ever before. If a reinstated mandate was soon reversed again with hospitalizations falling, as Gottleib suggested, it will cause even more to lose faith in the CDC. There is nothing worse than the US Justice system…except nearly all of the others. 😀

Can we keep this on point to BVI C & I requirements ? It really isn't cogent to discuss US policy in light of BVI requirements.

Since this probably involves the majority of visitors to the BVI including you, people are interested in what is happening in regards to travel from the USA to the BVI.

Breeze hasn't been to the BVI in probably 40 years.

I'm not really sure how that is relevant. Let's move on, people.

Anyone know if Intercaribbean between PR and BVI is still requiring masks?