Masks Stay On For Summer Travelers: Federal Mandate Extended To Sept. 13

NPR: TSA Keeps Face Mask Requirement On Public Transportation Through September
Wearing a face mask will continue to be a requirement at airports, aboard commercial flights and on other public transportation across the country through the summer. The federal mask mandate, which was set to expire on May 11, will remain in effect through Sept. 13, according to updated guidance issued by the Transportation Security Administration on Friday. The rule, which also applies to buses and rail systems, was first put in place by President Biden shortly after he took office in January. (Moore, 5/1)

USA Today: COVID: Colorado, New Jersey Ease Restrictions As Cases Fall
The White House says the U.S. trade representative will begin talks with the World Trade Organization on ways to overcome intellectual property issues that are keeping critically needed COVID-19 vaccines from being more widely distributed. The White House has been under intense pressure to join an effort to help waive patent rules for the vaccines so that poorer countries can begin to make their own generic versions. White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be starting talks “on how we can get this vaccine more widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared.” (Aspegren, 5/3)

AP: Adviser Suggests Biden Still Wears Mask Outside Out Of Habit
One of President Joe Biden’s top White House advisers suggested Sunday that he’s still wearing a mask outdoors out of habit although the latest public health guidance says he doesn’t need it. Questioned about Biden’s practice, senior adviser Anita Dunn told CNN’s “State of the Union” that she realized that she was also still wearing her mask outdoors even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people like her and Biden can stop wearing masks outside when they’re alone or not among strangers. (Superville, 5/2)

CNN: Confusion Over Masks Sparks New Political Showdown 
America's emerging limbo between a full-blown pandemic and a return to normal is throwing up new public health dilemmas that spark instant political fires -- like a fresh round of grandstanding over mask wearing. Top White House adviser Anita Dunn Sunday defended President Joe Biden over his continued use of a mask outdoors -- even though the practice appears to conflict with new and relaxed administration guidelines for fully vaccinated citizens. In comments that didn't necessarily clarify the situation, Dunn told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that "extra precautions" were being taken for the President and that mask wearing was "a matter of habit." (Collinson, 5/3)

In other news on the spread of the coronavirus —

The Washington Post: Some Schools Skip Student Quarantines
In the continuing struggle to strike a balance between safety and classroom learning, Ohio joined a handful of states that have now remade their rules to cut back on student quarantines. Many point to lower than expected spread of the virus inside schools and note that school leaders say there are few infections among students who get quarantined. In Ohio’s case, quarantines are no longer required for potential classroom exposures as long as students were masked and other safeguards were in place. (St. George, 5/2)

CIDRAP: Study Finds Low Rate Of Mom-To-Baby COVID-19 Spread, Effect On Infants
Infants born to women with COVID-19 have a low chance of contracting the disease from their mothers and having complications, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA. The study included 88,159 Swedish newborns, 92% of those born in the country from Mar 11, 2020, to Jan 31, 2021. Of those, 2,323 (1.6%) were delivered by mothers who tested positive for COVID-19, and only 21 infants in that group (0.9%) tested positive for COVID-19 themselves. (4/30)

Philadelphia Inquirer: These Dogs Are Learning To Detect COVID-19, And They Could Work At Airports And Stadiums
Now researchers are teaching dogs to detect COVID-19. The skill could be used to screen for asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus at airports, sporting events, schools, “pretty much any place you have large gatherings where everyone can go through one door,” said Cindy Otto, director of the Working Dog Center. The applications are promising, but training dogs to detect a disease like COVID-19 isn’t easy. Explosives, illicit drugs, human remains, and other physical things dogs can be trained to find have a scent humans can smell, too. It’s easy to know when the item has been found because both dog and trainer can see it. (Gantz, 5/1)