US CDC makes face masks mandatory on all public transportation from Feb 1

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an order making it mandatory for all Americans to wear face masks on public transports from February 1. The US CDC in its order said that people must wear face coverings while awaiting, boarding, travelling on public transports, adding they should also wear masks while at any transportation hub across the country. The order requires people to wear masks properly covering both their mouth and the nose. 

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"A conveyance operators operating a conveyance arriving at or departing from a US port of entry must require all persons on board to wear masks for the duration of travel as a condition of controlled free pratique. Conveyance operators must use their best efforts to ensure that any person on the conveyance wears a mask when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel. Best efforts include boarding only those persons who wear masks and instructing persons that Federal law requires wearing a mask on the conveyance and failure to comply constitutes a violation of Federal law," the order said. 

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Wearing a face mask will be mandatory for persons travelling via airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, rise-shares, etc. 

US President Joe Biden had said he would make face masks mandatory until the COVID-19 virus is brought under control. Earlier this week, Biden signed an executive order that made wearing masks compulsory while travelling within the United States via trains, buses, or airplanes. Biden also made face masks compulsory for everyone on federal properties. 

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US remains worst affected

The United States is the worst affected country in the world, so far reporting more than 25 million cases and over 4,33,000 deaths. The country has seen a rapid rise in cases in the past month after the new COVID-19 variants emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil, which scientists say are highly contagious. The government is running inoculation campaigns across the country with over 25 million people vaccinated to date. 

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(Image Credit: AP)