Items

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  2022-06-11

  US will end Covid-19 testing requirement for air travelers entering the country

  This is a news story from CNN by Kaitlan Collins. The CDC is expected to lift the requirement for air travelers to test negative for COVID before entering the US. The travel industry has been lobbying the CDC for months regarding this issue after it was no longer determined that the restrictions are no longer "based on the science and data." However, just because it is getting lifted now, the CDC does have the power to reinstate this restriction if a new variant develops and causes concern.
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  2022-04-19

  TSA will not enforce Covid mask mandate on planes, public transit after court ruling, White House says

  This is a news story from CNBC by Spencer Kimball. It says that the TSA will not enforce the COVID mask mandate on planes after a court ruling by a federal judge in Florida. The CDC, however, still recommends people wear masks while using public transit. The US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle said that the CDC failed to provide adequate reasons for the mandate. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says that the White House will appeal this ruling, with the Justice Department determining if ti will appeal. Airlines themselves are fairly divided on the issue. The Association of Flight Attendants, the nation's largest union of cabin crew, has offered a neutral stance on the mask mandate since it is a divisive issue within the union. Meanwhile, other airlines have asked the Biden administration to drop the mask mandate and other restrictions on citizens. Currently, the CDC says that hospitalizations have plummeted by 90% since the peak of Omnicron in January, and agencies are using this type of data to argue for why mandates should be lifted.
• 2020-10-29

  Airlines Conduct Tests to Prove that COVID-19 Spread is not High in Airplanes

  United Airlines, Boeing and the Defense Department conducted tests to gauge the risk of getting infected with the coronavirus on a plane. They used a mannequin that would use a spray to stimulate a cough. They concluded that the spread of infection is not high. However, the test failed to test many other factors, such as the patient turning their head to the side to cough, coughing while walking around the cabin, and other common locomotions of airplane passengers. Thus, the test was inconclusive, and seems like a desperate effort for the airline companies to get their customers back.