Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Should Masks Be Required On Airplanes? Democrats Pushing For Administration To Issue An Order
Politico: Democrats Call For Masks To Be Required Aboard Planes
Democrats in Congress are increasingly pushing the Trump administration to require everyone on board an airplane to wear face masks, brushing aside the Federal Aviation Administration's assertion that it doesn't regulate public health. Flight attendant unions have been asking for such a requirement for weeks; airlines have been inching toward mask requirements in recent days, though mostly for flight crews. JetBlue became the first airline to say it would voluntarily require its passengers to cover their faces earlier this week. (Mintz, 4/29)
The Washington Post: Science Behind Sanitizing Airplane Cabin Air Has Advanced But Was Too Late For Coronavirus
On March 14, 1977, a woman with the flu climbed aboard a 737 and headed for Kodiak, Alaska, with 53 other passengers and crew. After an engine failed, most of them sat on the runway with the cabin doors shut, and the ventilation system off, for two hours. Within three days, 38 more people were sick. More than four decades after state and federal epidemiologists showed how easily viruses spread from person to person on airplanes, the novel coronavirus has decimated global aviation. Daily passenger screenings are down 95 percent, according to the Transportation Security Administration. (Laris, 4/29)
