Transportation Mask Mandate Extended

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is extending the mandate requiring masks be worn while on public transportation like most buses, airplanes and trains.

The mandate was to expire April 18 but has been extended to May 3^rd in light of a new increase in COVID cases, mainly driven by the BA2 subvariant of the omicron mutation.

Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News (file)

The CDC April 13 said it was extending the mandate under “an abundance of caution.”

The move locally means passengers and operators will have to keep their faces covered on Broome County Transit buses, commercial buses and off-campus transportation operated by Binghamton University, as well as airlines and other private carriers.

The mandate also applies to stationary facilities like bus hubs and airport terminals.

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The move is seen by some as a necessary protection against a wider spread of the more transmissible BA2 subvariant that has milder symptoms that the first version of COVID-19 and its more contagious variants like Delta and Omicron.

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