![]() “I think CDC would be extremely wary, and I suspect that the Biden administration will be exceptionally wary right now … for both litigation and political reasons to go down that route unless they feel it is absolutely essential,” Parmet said. The CDC’s previous order expired due to the end of the public health emergency in May and had already become unenforceable in April 2022 due to a court order. (Parmet is one of many public health and public health law experts who signed an amicus brief supporting the CDC on this issue.) The CDC’s ability to impose a face mask mandate during travel has been contested in court. That would be a “labor law issue,” she said, and there might be pushback from the union. ![]() Parmet said that legally, TSA probably could impose mask mandates on its employees, but those would not extend to all airport workers or to passengers. “The ‘lockdown’ terminology is certainly a misnomer,” she said. Parmet added that the restrictions in the U.S., which included business closures and limits on gathering sizes, were not true lockdowns, such as those imposed in China. “It’s conspiracy thinking and it’s catastrophizing,” Parmet said of Jones’ claims. But ultimately, these were just suggestions. The federal government did advise states on restrictions, including when to lift them, and guided Americans on what they should and should not do to stay safe. Parmet, a public health law expert at Northeastern University, told us in a phone interview. “The restrictions that were put into place on businesses, on going to the movie theater, on going to the retail mall … all of those were done by states and local governments, not the federal government,” Wendy E. Moreover, all the talk of the Biden administration reimposing “lockdowns” is not even legally feasible. “These rumors are utterly false,” Nick Spinelli, a CDC spokesperson, told us in an email. The CDC similarly said the claims were untrue. “TSA is unaware of such a requirement,” the spokesperson told us in an email. “Do not comply.” No Basis for Returning COVID-19 RestrictionsĪ TSA spokesperson denied Jones’ claims, noting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - not TSA - is the federal agency responsible for transportation mask requirements. “If bureaucrats try to reinstate any COVID tyranny measures, resist them with a vengeance,” tweeted Republican Rep. Whether from Jones or not, the rumor that COVID-19 restrictions might be coming back has since been picked up by some politicians. An associated rallying cry, “do not comply,” briefly trended on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. Jones is also a prolific spreader of COVID-19 misinformation, among other topics.Ĭlips of Jones’ show began circulating online, and dubious websites such as the Gateway Pundit, which frequently traffics in misinformation, and others reported on the “news,” helping to spread the claims on social media. Last fall, he was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in defamatory damages to the families of the victims as a result of his falsehoods. Jones is best known for his false claim that the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 was fake. The episode was headlined on Jones’ website InfoWars as “Federal Officials Blow the Whistle on Biden’s Plan for New COVID Lockdowns.” Jones then claimed that he called a source within Customs and Border Protection after hearing this, and the source allegedly told him to expect “COVID protocols” to begin rolling out in mid-September and to “get ready for a whole new rollout of what happened before.” ![]() He added that the public should expect by December a return to “full COVID protocols.” Specifically, he said a “high level manager” in the Transportation Security Administration told him that by mid-September, TSA and airport employees would be required to wear masks due to concerns over “the new variant in Canada.” By mid-October, everyone would have to wear masks on airplanes, he said. 18 episode of “The Alex Jones Show,” the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones claimed sources within the federal government told him “new lockdowns are coming.” In a few limited instances, colleges and companies have announced they will be requiring masks for the time being.īut contrary to many viral social media posts, there is no indication that any kind of government-ordered COVID-19 restrictions are about to begin. This has led some public health experts to suggest that some people - especially those at higher risk of severe COVID-19 - wear masks when out in public, and to be a bit more cautious about contracting the coronavirus.
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