What the CDC's revamped covid guidance means for travel

What the CDC's revamped covid guidance means for travel Where should people wear a mask when traveling throughout the country? Under new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the answer is: in far fewer places. On Friday, the CDC eased mask recommendations for much of the country under a new framework to monitor coronavirus that immediately affects about 70% of Americans. The new recommendations factor in case numbers as always, but also consider hospitalizations and hospital capacity.Subscribe to The Post Most newslett YahooNews

...

What does the CDC's new coronavirus guidance mean for travel in the United States?

The updated recommendations will probably encourage more communities that enforce mask rules to ease them because far fewer locations now have "high" levels of covid-19. Under the new criteria, the CDC recommends masks regardless of vaccination status in counties with "high" levels, suggests masks for immunocompromised or high-risk individuals in "medium" areas and says people in "low" risk areas should wear a mask according to their personal preference. They also give new parameters travelers can use to make their own decisions on where to wear a mask, regardless of local requirements.

- - -

What does this mean for the mask mandate in airports and on planes, trains and other forms of transportation?

Nothing. That federal requirement remains in place through at least March 18.

- - -

When will we know if the mask mandate for public transportation is changing?

Walensky said that while the new community levels are not intended for travel corridors, the agency would "be revisiting that in the weeks ahead."

Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in an email Friday that the TSA would "continue to assess the duration of the requirement in consultation with CDC."

A major union representing flight attendants said recently that it has "every expectation" that the mandate will be extended, at least for the near future.

"The conditions in aviation are the same. Our youngest passengers do not yet have access to the vaccine," the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a statement. "The airplane is a unique, but controlled environment for everyone's safety. The layered approach to safety and security includes masks." ...