Should You Still Mask Up on Airplanes? Or Anywhere?
On April 18, 2022, when a judge in Florida abruptly struck down the federal mask mandate for public transportation, Americans reacted with every emotion, from exuberance to fear.At least temporarily (the Biden administration is appealing), the judge’s order ended obligatory mask-wearing on airplanes — a requirement that has lead to screaming fights between passengers and even assaults on flight attendants.Which raises the question, is it really safe to stop wearing masks, especially now that the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.2 is causing COVID-19 cases to spike in some parts of the country?We asked Carlos del Rio, MD, distinguished professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, for his take on all things masking. The following interview has been edited for clarity…