Social media slams feds for scrapping mask mandate on planes, trains

People are taking to social media to voice their anger and frustration with the federal government’s decision to scrap COVID-19 travel rules as of Oct. 1, specifically the mask mandate on planes and trains.

Some confusing messaging out of this announcement. The feds are scrapping the mask mandate but also encourage everyone to keep wearing one. When pressed, they say ppl who don’t like wearing a mask are making the lives of airline staff hard. #cdnpoli https://t.co/6zu45RsgxB

— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) September 26, 2022

One of the reasons Ottawa confirmed it was getting rid of the restrictions at the border was because people who don’t like wearing a mask are making the lives of airline staff really hard. They announced the rules were not being renewed while in the same breath saying masks are a key factor in reducing transmission of the virus and a barrier to help keep people and those around them safe.

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In other words, there is a mandate in place that can continue but it’s not, at the discretion of the federal government which is also telling people to keep following the rule they’re getting rid of.

Hundreds of thousands of people have interacted with a tweet put out by CityNews Vancouver Reporter Sonia Aslam on Monday, highlighting the confusing messaging from Ottawa.

Some people say the federal government is not putting the public’s health or safety first. Others, wondering how they’re still not able to take a bottle of water through security but can sit on a plane for hours without a mask mandate during a pandemic.

So the government is dropping the mask mandate (among other things) on airplanes because it’s “too hard to enforce”, which is quite the statement considering I haven’t been allowed to bring a full-sized bottle of water through security in 16 YEARS.

— Aaron Hoyland (@aaronhoyland) September 26, 2022

Some saying enforcing rules is part of the job, like no smoking, cutting off someone’s booze intake or putting their tray in the upright position when asked to do so during a flight.

A lot of people are also saying, if someone doesn’t want to wear a mask, then take them off the flight. And many are simply slamming the federal government, with the word “coward” being thrown around.

This is merely the federal government shifting responsibility for public health to individuals – and then blaming them in the process. https://t.co/miUVshrn4e

— Dr. Farah N. Mawani (@farah_way) September 27, 2022

Dead Canadian infants & toddlers. @Transport_gc would like you to make an “enlightened” decision to mask on planes/trains to protect yourselves from their decision to let planes/trains become covid hotboxes. It’s on you now kids. This is about personal responsibility after all. https://t.co/F0EwO2vloP

— Dr. Lisa Iannattone (@lisa_iannattone) September 26, 2022

Bullying works. https://t.co/pnnSxk93UI

— DrJames @YorkU (he/him/il) (@jasmith_yorku) September 26, 2022

https://t.co/YQSDq8BIbT pic.twitter.com/7DWVXqEejB

— T Zenon (@TZenon1) September 26, 2022

I mean of course let’s let people who don’t like something get their way.

WTF https://t.co/fjXViOhiPd

— Lynds (@Micro_Mama) September 26, 2022

Others feel the federal government has given in to bullies who, they think, are putting the lives of airline staff and other travellers at risk.

Something else that’s jumped out to people is Canada’s deputy chief medical health officer, who was at Monday’s news conference, saying he hopes people make an “enlightened” decision about continuing to wear a mask while travelling, something Dr. Howard Njoo encourages if you’re travelling, and it’s crowded, or the ventilation isn’t great.

Njoo also says COVID-19 case numbers are rising across the country and warns it could be a sign of what’s to come this fall and winter.

Kick them off the flight. Simple. They shouldn’t have the right to sicken other passengers and the staff.

— MaryBeTiredOfAntiMaskRhetoric (@broe001) September 26, 2022

https://t.co/cCclMixok7 pic.twitter.com/jsh05BFwz8

— On*a*SwivelWideEyes (@jcyh4l) September 27, 2022

What do the experts say

UBC’s Dr. Sarah Otto is a member of B.C.’s independent COVID modelling group. “I teach with a mask on. I get on the bus with a mask on. Right now, it’s not the time to put our masks away because our infection rates are just so high. So, in closed, indoor environments, wear a mask.”

Otto says there is another concern right now.

“Many people got vaccinated back in December of last year, and that’s especially true of our elders or the other main source of immunity is from people who had infections in January and February and that’s now so long ago that, that big, large fraction of the population is no longer protected from getting infected.”

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Otto doesn’t really get how people aren’t still masking, pointing out it’s unlikely the provincial government would bring that mandate back anytime soon.

“When we go out and it’s raining, we have our raincoat on, we put up our umbrella and we have our windshield wipers on our car, and we know how to act, and I think the same is true with COVID-19. When we know there’s a lot COVID-19 circulating in the community and there’s a lot right now, we know what to do — we put on our mask.”

Among the federal travel rules being scrapped is people won’t have to use the ArriveCan app, prove their vaccination status, undergo any pre-or-post testing and quarantine or isolate.