*Lifting of Covid mask mandate on US transportation horrifies health
experts.*
It horrifies me, too. Yesterday I went to a party in a
well-ventilated space. When I got to the transfer station at Park
Street I found that the train line from there was shut down; we had to
take shuttle buses instead. There were not enough shuttles so there
was a long line. People were waiting in line for half an hour,
standing quite close to strangers, to board a packed bus; most of
them had no masks. I decided not to ride a bus under conditions
like that.
I waited quite some time and saw that the line was not getting
shorter, so I tried to look for a taxi. No one could point me at a
functioning taxi stand, there in the heart of Boston. A hotel bell
captain tried to phone for a taxi for me, and got no answer. I did
see some taxis go by in the street but there was little chance of
finding an empty one.
On returning to the shuttle stop, I found that the line had become
short and buses were no longer packed. I reached the party over two
hours delayed; many of the people had already left.
A mask requirement by itself would not have prevented this problem,
and I would not ride on a packed bus even if everyone had a mask. But
it would have reduced the amount of infection that took place on those
crowded buses.
The airlines that have gleefully eliminated mask requirements
will regret it when sick employees lead to cancelling flights.