On Monday, a federal judge struck down the mask mandate, stating that it was unlawful of the Biden administration to force Americans to wear them on public transportations. 

This ruling is officially under review, but in the meantime, masks are now optional.

This means Idahoans can decide if they want to wear them on planes, trains, buses, airports and ride-shares.

As you can imagine, this has sparked a lot of controversy and debate. 

 

What does the White House and CDC say?

The Biden administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to adamantly urge citizens to keep wearing masks on public transportations, despite the mandate being removed. 

However, it is unknown yet whether the Biden administration will appeal this ruling or not.

If the CDC deems that there is a public health basis for reinstating and extending the mask mandate, then it will be appealed.

But the mask mandate was going to expire on May 3 either way.

 

What do Americans want?

According to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a majority of Americans actually claim to support the mask requirement while traveling. 

 

  • 56% of Americans are in favor
  • 24% are opposed
  • 20% neither agree nor disagree

 

How do Idahoans feel?

Idahoans seem to be pretty divided thus far about whether or not masks should be optional.

However, many have pointed out that public transportation is not as prevalent in our little valley, so this new ruling isn’t as shocking to our way of life as it is in bigger metropolitan areas. 

 

Either way, it will be interesting to see what happens next, and what the possible ramifications from the ruling may be. 

But regardless of your opinion, we think we can all agree that: 


 

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