Mask mandate

On April 23, 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that face masks be worn to prevent the spread of Covid-19. As the pandemic continued, many state and local governments issued mask mandates which required people to wear masks on airplanes, public transports and in government buildings and schools. While each state had its own mask mandate, most required masks to be worn in public spaces such as shops, health centers and schools. Although mask mandates have been lifted in most of the United States, the Federal mandate requires the wearing of masks on airplanes and public transit.

On April 13, 2022 the Biden administration extended the mask mandate for another 15 days. The news website NBC reports: “The Biden administration is extending a mask mandate for airplanes and transit for 15 days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The mandate was set to expire after April 18, following a one-month extension announced in March. Airlines have required masks on planes since early in the Covid pandemic in 2020, but the Biden administration made them mandatory in early 2021” (Josephs).

After a lull in Covid cases across the nation, the new BA.2 variant started spreading quickly in March 2022. This resulted in the city of Philadelphia reintroducing a mask mandate that was only recently lifted. NPR reports: “Starting April 18, Philadelphia will require people to again wear masks in public places after health officials reported a rise in COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 cases have increased more than 50% in the previous 10 days, officials with Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health announced Monday. On April 11, the department said the city was averaging 142 new cases per day. ‘Our city remains open; we can still go about our daily lives and visit the people and places we love while masking in indoor public spaces,” Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement. “I’m optimistic that this step will help us control the case rate‘” (Diaz).

Social Media Trends as of May 17, 2022

Facebook #maskmandate: 18,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #maskmandate: 36,899 posts
TikTok #maskmandate: 256.3 million views
YouTube #maskmandate: 1,500 videos and 696 channels

Google Trends: mask mandate appeared in April 2020 and peaked in early 2021. The popularity of the term has waxed and waned as states and local municipalities lift mask mandates and reintroduce them depending on the transmission and severity of new Covid variants.

Sources

Diaz, Jacklyn. “Philadelphia to reinstate its mask mandate after a rise in COVID cases.” NPR.org. April 11, 2022. URL: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/11/1092174190/philadelphia-mask-mandate-covid.

Josephs, Leslie. “Biden administration extends transportation mask mandate for 15 more days.” CNBC.com. April 13, 2022. URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/13/us-extends-mask-mandate-for-airplanes-and-transit-by-15-days.html.