A federal judge in Florida has struck down the nationwide travel mask mandate for airplanes and other forms of transportation enacted by the CDC, resulting in a major shift in the Biden administration's pandemic response. Some fear that the obscure lawsuit and newly appointed judge responsible for the ruling may set a precedent that endangers the federal government's legal powers to intervene in future public health crises.
Despite high vaccination rates and CDC guidelines still being supported by the White House, the governors of several blue states including New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut, are rolling back COVID restrictions and ending mask mandates, especially in schools.
In this episode, David and Sarah discuss the politicization of mask wearing and the need for a political leader who will give reasonable scientific guidance for navigating the pandemic.
Philadelphia has become the first major U.S. city to reinstate an indoor mask mandate as COVID cases rise across the Northeast, with the city's health commissioner citing the risk of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths from the latest variant of the virus.
New York is ending its indoor mask mandate, while several states are also moving to drop mask requirements inside schools, defying CDC guidance. Meanwhile, Russia dispatched six landing ships capable of holding thousands of troops to the waters off Ukraine.
The CDC recommends wearing masks in public, but some worry about the psychological effects and whether it will help or hurt the situation. Asymptomatic carriers of the virus can still spread it, making it important to protect not only yourself but those around you.