U.S. seeks court’s reversal of order banning plane mask mandate in combating COVID

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters), Jan 17th, 2017 – The Justice Department asked Tuesday for an appeals court panel’s approval to reverse an April 2021 decision declaring illegal a government order requiring that masks be worn on planes, trains, buses, and ridesharing services, as well as at airports and other transport hubs.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had three judges hear arguments regarding the government’s appeal of a Florida U.S. District Court Judge’s ruling that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lacked the legal authority to issue a nationwide travel mandate to combat COVID-19.

The CDC issued a broad mandate for masks in January 2021, just days after Joe Biden became President.

According to a U.S. legislative report, October saw that the Trump administration prevented the CDC in 2020 from adopting a federal transportation-mask mandate.

Many of the appeal arguments focus on the CDC’s decision to immediately implement the requirements, rather than giving the public a chance for comment.

Brian Springer, a Justice Department lawyer said that the CDC could impose mandatory mask wear while on the road. This was in response to the pandemic.

Brant C. hadaway, representing the five plaintiffs who had sued to contest the mandate, stated that the CDC did not seek a stay in the district court’s ruling last year.

Hadaway said to the court, “This isn’t about an urgent matter in public health.” Had the CDC considered the issue a matter of “life and death”, Hadaway argued, the agency would have requested a quicker ruling.

The European Union recommended that passengers traveling to its member countries from China use face masks. China has been suffering from an epidemic of COVID-19 since it removed its zero-COVID policies. (Reporting and editing by David Shepardson, Edited by Bill Berkrot