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The US disease control agency (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC for short) wanted to force passengers and public transportation employees to wear masks with a regulation. However, according to a New York Times report, the White House blocked the regulation.
More than 40,000 Americans are infected with the coronavirus every day. The agency’s proposal would have been the toughest security measure to date to slow the spread of the virus. Two officials who spoke anonymously with the US newspaper said Health Secretary Alex Michael Azar II supported the company. But the coronavirus task force at the White House refused to even discuss it. It is headed by Vice President Mike Pence.
The regulation would have forced people to wear masks on planes, trains, buses and in the subway, as well as in airports and train stations. All guidelines to contain the spread of the coronavirus must be approved by the task force.
A member of the task force said that, according to the report, the decision to prescribe masks should be left to the states and regions. The situations, and with them the reactions to the restrictions, are very different in the different regions of the country.
It’s not the first time the White House task force has halted a CDC move: Late last month, the task force blocked an order that cruise ships should not continue operating until mid-February. The Florida tourism industry had vehemently rejected this plan. Florida is a decisive state in the presidential elections.
