It just became easier to spot Canadians at an American airport – look for masks.
North American air travel rules contracted strikingly on Tuesday after a Florida judge overturned mask requirements for U.S. airlines and the Biden administration delayed deciding whether to appeal.
Meanwhile, Canada is adhering to its pandemic precautions.
All of this created different scenes at Reagan National Airport near downtown Washington.
In most of this airport, as well as in most of the United States, the wearing of masks is already determined by choice. There were faces covered here and there on Tuesday.
It didn’t look like a pile of hidden cups around the 4A luggage carousel in Terminal A, the unofficial Little Canada at the airport. Almost everyone there remained masked.
Sunny Peck, who headed to Winnipeg on Tuesday, called the US move meaningless given the ongoing pandemic. (CBC)
“I will not take off my mask”
When asked about the change in US policy, Winnipeg’s Sunny Peck mockingly slapped her forehead to express her bewilderment.
“I’m not taking off my mask,” said Peck, who was visiting her grandchildren in Washington and was preparing to board a return flight through Toronto.
“There is science. Whether you believe in it or not.”
Peck says she is happy that Canada has not met the requirements for masks amid a pandemic that has killed many millions around the world and for which hospitalization rates are still quite high in Canada and in some other countries.
Some passengers agreed, with a woman who asked about the policy change pointing to her chin and saying, “That’s why I put on two masks.”
The pandemic seems to be related a lull in the United States, however. And several said it was time to volunteer to wear masks.
WATCH Confusion over US airport masks:
Confusion after a US judge revoked his travel mask mandate
The United States will no longer impose camouflage on planes and other forms of public transportation after a federal judge in Florida revoked the mandate, causing confusion for some passengers because companies can still impose their own mask rules. 2:03
Laney Weinstein of Toronto had just spent a few days with her US-born husband visiting the family in Washington, D.C., and they were in no hurry to disguise themselves.
She said it was an “all for” US move.
“If you want to wear a mask, you can wear a mask. If you don’t want to wear a mask, you don’t have to. So it’s up to each individual.”
Asked if she thought most Canadians shared that view, she said: “Absolutely not.”
Her husband, Scott Weinstein, agreed there was an obvious cultural contrast between his native United States and his new home: “It’s definitely much tighter in Canada,” he said.
But he said it was good to glide on that cover for the trip to Toronto.
“The flight is an hour, so we will survive,” he said.
Celebrations on some flights
The rules are not just inconsistent across the continent. There is anecdotal evidence of different practices at different levels.
While some Canadian passengers have said they have universal masks on their flights, people on a Canada-US flight are said to enjoy freer requirements.
A Delta passenger from Calgary to Minneapolis said some people applauded when the crew announced that masks were no longer required.
Andrea van Vugt, a trade expert and adviser to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was on the flight, saying about half of the passengers were wearing masks and half were not.
The pilot of Delta announces the end of the mandate of the mask just before takeoff, passengers applaud. pic.twitter.com/MUkRIHAtO4
– @MikeSington
In her ruling, Florida District Judge Catherine Kimball Misel of Florida said the Biden administration not only exceeded its legal rights with the mask’s mandate, but also missed the necessary procedural steps that should have allowed for public comment.
Misel was appointed to court in recent weeks by the Trump administration, for which her husband, Chad Misel, served as legal counsel at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.
The American Bar Association called Misel unqualified as a judge; he describes her as smart, hardworking and “admirable”, but without the necessary legal experience.
So, should Americans still wear masks on airplanes?
“[It’s] it depends on them, “US President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday.
Inevitable worries
White House spokesman Jen Psaki said the administration was reviewing the case and said the policy should be guided by public health experts, not the courts.
Centers for Disease Control in the United States recently extend the term of office until 3 Maypending his examination.
Logan International Airport in Boston on Tuesday. The US Centers for Disease Control recently extended its mandate until May 3, pending review. (Brian Snyder / Reuters)
Among the inevitable concerns for politicians and travelers is whether vulnerable people can protect themselves in the absence of widespread disguise.
Some public health experts have expressed confidence that a high-quality mask can provide significant protection against the transmission of viruses.
But disguise policy is also a political solution, and US policy is unsettled – it offers no obvious option for Biden, with midterm elections months away.
Politics in play
There is some evidence that Americans want mask mandates to continue on airplanes: 60 percent doaccording to a new study by Harris.
Still, the percentage of Americans who wear masks regularly is declining, even in a city like Washington, which until recently had a mandate for masks.
Less than half of Americans, 44 percent, now wear masks around other people, according to the recent Associated Press. questionnaire which showed a sharp decline from last year.
Independent voters are even less likely to wear masks than the national average, says a recent Economist-YouGov questionnaire.
So Biden and his staff will sort out the virus, their legal prospects and policies as they weigh their response to a Florida judge.
Meanwhile, two years after the deadly pandemic, this is a moment of transition in the North American neighborhood and you can see it on the faces of passengers.
Or in the case of a pocket from this neighborhood, around the 4A luggage carousel, about half of their face.
Laney Weinstein of Toronto, who travels to Washington with her husband to visit his family, supports the move to voluntary camouflage. (CBC)
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