White House touts return to normal as Covid recedes but offers no end to masks on planes

Many states and the federal government are loosening up restrictions on coronavirus mitigation efforts, including mask usage, but it still may be some time before passengers on trains and airplanes can ride without face coverings.

White House coronavirus adviser Jeffrey Zients commented on masked travel during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday.

Mr Zients said that masked travel would continue but would be reviewed on 18 March.

On Monday, the White House advised federal agencies that they could drop their Covid-19 requirements forcing employees and visitors to wear masks. That directive applies to most federal buildings across the country.

That advisement applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status, so long as the federal buildings are in areas with medium or lower Covid-19 community levels. That accounts for about 70 per cent of US counties and 72 per cent of the US population.

Reuters reports that in areas with lower community Covid-19 levels, agencies can stop holding regular employee screening for individuals without vaccinations.

Washington DC and the surrounding parts of Maryland and Virginia, where the majority of federal buildings are located, are all considered communities with low Covid-19 rates.

The move is a response to the CDC easing its Covid-19 guidelines for masking, including in schools. The rollback happened on Friday in response to declining Covid-19 transmission numbers and a reduction in hospital capacity problems caused by spikes in infected individuals.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that statewide school mandates would end Wednesday, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he would lift pandemic mitigation measures on 7 March.

Both officials are hoping that an ease on coronavirus restrictions will help the city's economy rebound and help lower the still high number of individuals left unemployed by the pandemic.

California Governor Gavin Newsom also announced that his state would lift its school mask restrictions on 11 March. Last week, Mr Newsom lifted almost all of the executive actions he enacted to combat the pandemic.

In Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee announced that mask requirements would be lifted on 12 March, aligning with federal guidelines. Originally the state was going to lift its mandates on 21 March, but the date was adjusted following the White House's directives.

Nearly every state will drop its mask mandates at some point in March. The only state that has not announced an intention to end its mask mandates is Hawaii, where Governor David Ige said Covid-19 concerns were still relevant.

“I do think that the CDC does continue to recommend mask wearing for different individuals,” Mr Ige told KHON2 on Tuesday. “We also are working with our public schools. We do recognize that we’re coming up to spring break and we anticipate that there will be changes and people traveling that will introduce increasing virus activity in the public school setting.”

However, the state is ending its Safe Travels Hawaii program expire on 25 March, which will allow domestic Trans-Pacific travelers to return to the islands.

“When we just look at the proclamation ending on the 25th and what would occur after that, all I’m saying is that we do know that the mask mandate works, and we’ll continue to have the indoor mask mandate,” Mr Ige said. “We’re ensuring that our schools can remain open for in-person learning.”