The federal transportation mask mandate has been extended

The federal transportation mask mandate¹ has been extended

Transcript²

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will require travelers to mask up in airports, planes, buses, trains and at transit³ hubs until May 3. That mandate had been set to expire next week.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Air travelers and commuters will have to keep their faces covered a little bit longer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is extending the mask mandate for public transportation. Instead of expiring next week, it continues through May 3. NPR's Pien Huang reports.

PIEN HUANG, BYLINE⁴: Masks are needed on the train. Masks are needed on the plane. The CDC says that passengers and workers must continue to wear masks on ferries, subways, buses, taxis and rideshares, too, for at least the next three weeks. James Hodge, a public health law professor at Arizona State University, says the measure makes sense.

JAMES HODGE: We do have upward trends of infections. CDC is responding to the data, and it's implementing⁵ the measure it has the authority to do.

HUANG: The CDC - with the Transportation Safety Administration, or TSA - has required masks on public transport for the past 14 months. The order has almost expired a few times, but the agencies keep extending it. This to the chagrin⁶ of travel industry trade groups, who, along with the U.S. Chamber⁷ of Commerce, sent a letter to the White House this week asking for the mask mandates⁸ to stop. They said it imposes costs on travelers and that enforcement often falls on workers, like flight attendants, dealing⁹ with passengers who don't want to wear their masks. And some experts argue that the CDC is sending mixed messages by extending the mask mandate for travel.

Dr. Monica Gandhi is an infectious disease physician at UC San Francisco. She points out that according to CDC's own metrics, 95% of U.S. counties have low COVID community levels, meaning people there can live, learn, work and shop without masks.

MONICA GANDHI: The entire country, at this point, really doesn't have an indoor mask mandate. It's really not consistent to have a mask mandate on a plane or a bus versus¹⁰ the whole community.

HUANG: Another discordance¹¹ - the mask mandate applies to city buses, but not to school buses. Still, Zinzi Bailey, a social epidemiologist at the University of Miami, says the CDC's mask mandate for travelers can make a meaningful difference.

ZINZI BAILEY: When we are in enclosed public spaces with other people who may be from a variety of different locations, it's prudent¹² to have a mask, right?

HUANG: That's especially true now. In the past two weeks, the U.S. has seen a 20% increase in cases. So far, it's been mostly concentrated in certain areas like the Northeast. Bailey says it's important to try and keep regional outbreaks from spreading.

BAILEY: When we are in a plane, we don't know who we are coming into contact with or who is traveling from where. Without a mask mandate, we are kind of exposing everybody to what might be a localized surge.

HUANG: She says it also protects people at high medical risk who have to be in these enclosed spaces. The CDC says they're extending the travel mask mandate to May 3 to assess the recent rise in COVID cases caused by the spread of the BA.2 omicron subvariant.

Right now, Dr. Ashish Jha, the new White House coronavirus coordinator¹³, says the U.S. is still having a reasonably good COVID moment.

ASHISH JHA: Infection numbers are relatively¹⁴ low. We have fewer people in the hospital right now than at any point in the pandemic.

HUANG: But health officials are watching for any signs that the uptick in cases could lead to big increases in serious disease and hospital strain. That's why the CDC is keeping the travel mask mandate, at least for now.

Pien Huang, NPR News.

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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 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。

3 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。

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 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

6 chagrin   

n.懊恼；气愤；委屈

参考例句：

• His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
• Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 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。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

11 discordance   

n.不调和，不和，不一致性；不整合；假整合

参考例句：

• The structure of and rock extremly complex in the discordance formation system in Karst area. 岩溶地区不整合地层系统之岩土构成复杂。 来自互联网
• Objective To analyze environmental factors of the discordance of concomitant strabismus phenotypes in monozygotic twins. 目的通过分析单卵双胎儿表型不一致性共同性斜视发病因素，探讨其发病机制。 来自互联网

12 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

13 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。