Nke a ọ bụ n'ezie njedebe nke iwu mkpuchi?

Or is the end going to be appealed? US President Joe Biden’s administration said today that it would appeal Federal US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s ruling that ends the mask mandate on airplanes. But only if public health officials deem that it is necessary to keep the mask mandate intact. For now. We think.

It seems that the country is again divided… or perhaps the division always is and always will be. Anyway, some are cheering the ending of the mask mandate, some – like young mothers with babies who cannot wear masks – are outraged that despite a new COVID-19 variant in the form of BA.2 and rising infection numbers, America is suddenly tossing caution to the wind and saying nah, you don’t need a mask after all.

Basically that is like saying we never needed masks to begin with.

The reality is that nothing has changed. COVID-19 is still very active. People are still getting infected – and this is despite the fact that there WAS a mask mandate being upheld until a single day ago. And yes, people are still dying from the coronavirus. So why this sudden move to unmask and dance the macarena with strangers?

It must be economical one would ponder. It certainly isn’t about health – or what scientists or medical professionals think. All of a sudden, a federal judge is an authority on pandemics with the ability to say yay or nay about how a national health issue – once which is in reality a world health problem – should be handled.

Even President Biden doesn’t really know how to respond to questions about masks anymore. When posed with the question of whether travelers should wear masks on airplanes, his response was “it’s up to them.” But Mr. President, doesn’t your administration’s official guidance say we Americans should keep wearing masks on airplanes for now?

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said to reporters on Air Force One, “We’re continuing to encourage people to wear masks,” and the CDC still advises people to wear masks on public transit.