Health experts consider end of mask mandate for travelers

The federal mask mandate will remain in effect on airplanes, airports and other forms of public transportation until at least March 18, but there is growing speculation among public health experts that the order will not be extended, assuming cases of COVID-19 continue to drop. “I think probably, more likely than not, that mandate will be lifted,” said Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.