The United States government is appealing a court ruling that controversially lifted a federal mask mandate on public transport earlier this week, the Justice Department said Wednesday, according to AFP.
After the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country's top health body, assessed that masks remain "necessary to protect the public health, the Department has filed a notice of appeal," spokesman Anthony Coley said.
The move comes after a US federal judge on Monday struck down the COVID-19 mask mandate, stating that it exceeded the CDC's statutory authority.
Policymakers in Washington had decided just the prior week to extend it through May 3.
Although the public has a "strong interest" in combating the spread of Covid, the mask mandate "exceeded the CDC's statutory authority," and it "failed to adequately explain its decisions," US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle of the Middle District of Florida said in her decision.
Multiple major airlines subsequently dropped mask requirements on domestic flights and some international flights, while ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft as well as passenger rail Amtrak additionally announced an end to mask mandates.
The CDC said in a statement it "continues to recommend that people wear masks in all indoor public transportation settings."
"As we have said before, wearing masks is most beneficial in crowded or poorly ventilated locations, such as the transportation corridor," it added.
In Israel, meanwhile, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to cancel the requirement to wear masks in enclosed spaces.
The decision will take effect beginning on Saturday, April 23, at 8:00 p.m.