A sign reminding passengers to wear face masks is seen on the window of a subway train in Chicago, the United States, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Photo by Vincent D. Johnson/Xinhua)
"We're basically ensuring that infectious and susceptible people are together for a chunk of time, with no protection at all."
LONDON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- When the U.S. federal government's mandate requiring masks on transportation was lifted last week, health experts warned that "this is not the time to be pulling back on mitigation measures," The Guardian said in a recent report.
Maureen Miller, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, said she was "horrified." "We're basically ensuring that infectious and susceptible people are together for a chunk of time, with no protection at all," she said.
"I don't think individual responsibility can solve the epidemic," Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician and researcher at Stanford University, was quoted as saying.
Karan noted that wastewater surveillance testing, which is increasingly being used as official reporting of cases becomes less reliable, has indicated a rise in cases as the BA.2 Omicron subvariant continues to spread.
"This is not the time to be pulling back on mitigation measures in shared public indoor spaces," Karan said.
The potential for outbreaks is what drove the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to delay on April 13 the end of the transportation mask mandate by two weeks, from April 18 to May 3, The Guardian reported.
"Since early April, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of cases in the U.S.," the CDC said in a statement at the time. "In order to assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC order will remain in place at this time."
But then a U.S. district court judge in Florida on April 18 struck down the extension, saying that the agency overstepped its authority, The Guardian said.
Last Wednesday, the justice department said it was filing an appeal to seek to overturn the judge's ruling, leaving it unclear whether the mandate will be lifted permanently.
In a statement, the CDC said it was still studying the potential of another wave and still recommended that people wear masks "in all indoor public transportation settings."
Some public health experts have expressed concern over the uncertainty of the effects of long COVID-19, even in those who initially had mild cases of the virus, The Guardian noted. ■
