Judy: The question of masking on
public transportation hit a snag
today.
We have more under federal
judge's ruling to overturn the
CDC's national mask mandate.
For a closer look at what
this means for travelers and for
the CDC's authority, we turn to
Lawrence Golson, professor of
global health law at Georgetown
university and has written
several books.
Great to have you back on
newshour.
The judge in her ruling in this
case noted that masks can stop
the spread of viruses but she
said the CDC's authority in this
matter, that it overstepped its
authority.
What do you make of her
argument?
>> Thanks for having me,
William.
The, her argument makes very
little sense to me.
There are certainly areas where
CDC's powers are questionable
like the housing eviction
moratorium the supreme court
struck down, but it is hard for
me to think of a more classic
case where the CDC is well
within its legal and
constitutional powers than at
airports, preventing the
interstate or the international
transmission of a dangerous
infectious disease.
I would say CDC is actually at
the very height of its legal
powers and if it cannot do this,
I am not sure what it could do
to protect the public health.
>> As we reported, the CDC said
now given this ruling the TSA
and other agencies are not going
to enforce this ruling anymore.
Of course, people want to wear
masks can still do that.
But on a public health level,
the CDC had been debating
whether or not to drop this
requirement anyway, before this
ruling.
We know that cases are ticking
back up somewhat.
What is your sense as to how
much this really will matter as
far as keeping people safe?
>> Let's first talk about the
current situation.
We've got over the next couple
of days tens of thousands of
passengers going to airports and
there's chaos and there is
confusion.
The airlines don't know what to
do.
The airline staff don't know
what to do.
There is likely to be even more
verbal and physical, verbal and
physical violence.
That's really concerning.
I think there is a legitimate
conversation about whether or
not we should have masks on plan
es, but the CDC said it needed
another 15 days.
That is not a lot -- to evaluate
whether the current spike in
cases was going to lead to a
Ike in hospitalizations and
deaths, as occurred in the U.K.
That is a very reasonable and
prudent decision to take and I
cannot imagine why a federal
judge would strike it down until
the CDC had all of the facts and
could make its decision on the
basis of science.
>> When we were talking
earlier, you were concerned
about the longer-term impact
this might have on the CDC's
ability to protect the public.
Can you explain what troubles
you here?
>> It does.
Throughout this pandemic,
virtually every federal order
declared covid-19 has been at
one time or another blocked or
struck down by the federal
courts.
We've become really partisan
and the Couts H Ave
participated in this covid
culture war where we're sniping
at one another rather than
letting public health agencies
do their work.
I know a lot of people think
that the pandemic has come to a
close.
I don't think it is but we are
certainly coming into a
different phase.
But I really worry about the
future.
Do we really want to
handcuf public health
agencies for the protecting the
public when the next health
emergency hits?
And it almost certainly will H
hit.
We need vibrant, strong public
health action.
>> So, if people are watching
this news and thinking, ok,
mask, don't mask.
Schools say yes, some school say
no.
For a concerned citizen, what
guidance would you give them?
>> You know, the guidance I
would give them, and it is
something that actually saddens
me because I've always seen
public health as a
population-based decision by
public health scientists, but
now we are kind of in a
situation where individuals are
going to have to protect
themselves, particularly if they
are vulnerable, if they are
elderly, immune compromise, if
you are child and unable to be
vaccinated.
You may need to wear high
quality n95 or kn95 masks to
protect yourself because it is
very clear a large swath of
American public policy has moved
on.
Covi-- is still here, and is
going to be here for a long
time.
I hope we can come together as a
nation, listen to science, trust
our public health agencies and
let them guide us.
>> Always good to see you.
Thank you.
>> Thanks, William.