The Coast Guard announced it has received permission from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to no longer enforce the mandate that requires anyone traveling on commercial vessels, including ferries and fishing boats, to wear a mask in outdoor areas.
It will take some time for the CDC to formally revise the executive order and its mandates that initially required masking up outdoors on maritime vessels, Kodiak public radio station KMXT reported June 11. Until then, the CDC said it will not compel the Coast Guard and vessel operators to enforce outdoor masking requirements.
The requirement for most people to wear masks indoors for the duration of travel, including boarding and disembarking the vessel, is still in place, the radio station reported. It’s similar to the requirement that passengers wear face masks while aboard aircraft.
Under the new guidance, masking up in outdoor areas on vessels or at the dock or port will no longer be required.
The requirement stems from a CDC rule issued in February which said everyone on public transportation must be masked. The Coast Guard interpreted the rule to apply to all vessels, including commercial fisherman.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski criticized the rule’s application aboard commercial fishing boats in a congressional hearing last month.
It’s an “absolutely a crazy policy,” Murkowski said, adding that she has heard from fishermen who wear the masks only because they’re concerned about being discovered by the Coast Guard and fined or otherwise penalized.
“You’re out on a boat, the winds are howling, your mask is wet,” the senator said. “Tell me how anyone thinks this is a sane or sound policy.”
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