Fear-mongering can be rescued from Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday’s broadcast network morning newscasts encouraged viewers to continue masking up on planes, public transit, and when in airports due to “surging” cases of COVID-19 and a need to support the immunocompromised. This was despite Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s Monday ruling that struck down the nationwide mask mandate on travel.
Errol Barnett was a transportation correspondent. CBS MorningsThis is a report “the CDC says amid a surge of COVID in several states across the country, a masking requirement indoors for travelers remains necessary.”
Barnett also brought in CBS News contributor Dr. David Agus to insist flying is sketchy despite evidence to the contrary (which ABC’s Gio Benitez demonstrated Good Morning America) (click “expand”):
BARNETT
AGUS: The problem with air travel is that —
BARNETT: CBS News contributor Dr. David Agus says that while airplanes have strong filtration systems, it may not be enough for high-risk travelers —
AGUS: These individuals will likely have more trouble going out with others and be at greater risk of getting exposed. They may become extremely ill.
BARNETT: — which is a very real concern for Brian Vastag [sp?]Hawaii. To treat his autoimmune diseases, he went to Alaska.
BRIAN VASTAG – I constantly assess my risk. It’s not possible to tell if there’s a sick person on board.
ABC’s Good Morning America Michael Strahan, the co-host, lamented about “the battle over masks”Continue reading “cases are rising in some regions and restrictions could return.”
Cecilia Vega, ABC’s chief White House correspondent, agreed to continue complying because we, the sheep should. “[t]he CDC still says that wearing a mask is in the public health interest” and only footnoted its “optional.”
Vega was worried about Team Biden. “blindsided by the initial ruling”Due to ensure, he wanted the mandate returned. “precedent for the future…allowing the CDC to make public health decisions based on science.”
Later in her report, she too cited the caseload (without citing low hospitalizations and deaths) and touted New York keep its mandate (click “expand”):
VEGA: As COVIDs cases increase, some areas with subvariants are more susceptible to omicron spread. The national new infection rate has increased nearly 23 percent within the last week. New York’s Governor Announced that the Mask Mandate will be maintained despite rising rates of infection.
GOVERNOR KATHY OULUS (D-NY), : We are not worried about it. Although we won’t change, we do want to ensure that we remain smart.
VEGA – Americans now have to wait. This legal fight can take several weeks and could even take several months. According to experts, it is likely that the Supreme Court will hear it. The catch? This administration is not going to be able to do it.[T]Health officials advise that you wear your masks while traveling, but they are optional.[.]
Over on NBC’s Today, longtime correspondent Tom Costello claimed the Biden administration hasn’t actually but instead “preserve the integrity and the authority of the CDC to act in the event of a public health emergency.”
Hyping “public health experts” as believing CDC “authority is critical to keeping the public safe,” Costello too went to the current state of the pandemic as some five-alarm fire: “While average daily COVID deaths have been trending down since a spike in February, we are still losing nearly 400 people a day. That’s why some travelers say they’ll keep masking up.”
And despite co-host Craig Melvin’s efforts to ask whether it’s “the best time to” end the mask mandate, United CEO Scott Kirby noted that it’s safe “almost everywhere we go…because of the availability of vaccines, the efficacy of treatments and the way the numbers have come down” and “we’re getting back to living life as normal” because “it’s going to be endemic.”
Thursday’s mask worship services were made possible thanks to advertisers such as Colgate (on CBS), Honda (on NBC), and Zales (on ABC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
You can view the transcripts for April 21 by clicking here (for ABC), hier (for CBS) and here (for NBC).
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