Travelling by public transit increases the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 by often putting people in close contact with others for long periods of time and exposing them to frequently touched surfaces. Air travel often requires time in busy security lines and airport terminals. Travelling by bus, train and other means of transport used for international, intergovernmental or national transport presents similar challenges. Staying 6 feet away from others is often difficult on public transportation. People may not be able to move around the recommended minimum of 6 feet of other people sitting nearby, or those standing or walking in aisles on planes, trains or buses. Connecticut has an indoor mask mandate that only extends to unvaccinated people, and Rhode Island has a hybrid order that requires face coverings for everyone at larger sites, but gives small businesses leeway based on the vaccination status of guests. Washington is the only state to require an outdoor mask that requires face coverings at outdoor events attended by 500 or more people. But Fuse Brown says that while this understanding of “hygiene” may be true for laymen, it is not the way the term is used in public health or understood by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that gave the mandate. The national obligation to cover one`s face was lifted on 20.06.21. Face coverings must continue to be worn if required by federal law. In addition, any private business or school system can still require people to wear face coverings.

While these guidelines use the ADA`s definition of disability, they do not address other ADA provisions that may be relevant to issues related to mask use. The mask requirement in Alabama expired on April 9. The state Department of Health recommends public face coverings as part of its COVID-19 safety guidelines. The municipal requirement to wear masks in Birmingham and Montgomery expired in May. Wearing a mask is mandatory in indoor public spaces for anyone aged 2 years and older, regardless of vaccination status. The universal mandate went into effect on Dec. 15, replacing a previous ordinance that only covered unvaccinated people and will last for at least a month. Masks are also mandatory for all people in schools, health and long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless and emergency shelters, and public transit. Los Angeles County requires face coverings at large outdoor events. All mask and physical distancing rules will be lifted. OSHA requires employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that all unvaccinated employees wear a face covering indoors or when occupying a vehicle with another person for work purposes, with a few exceptions.

If an employee is unable to wear a face covering because of a disability or sincere religious beliefs, they may be entitled to reasonable accommodation. Other employers should suggest or require that unvaccinated customers, visitors or guests in publicly accessible workplaces, such as retail establishments, wear face coverings and that all customers, visitors or guests wear face coverings in indoor public spaces in areas where transmission is significant or high. All transit passengers (e.g., planes, ships*, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, rideshares) travelling to, in, or outside the United States (including U.S. territories), as well as carriers (e.g., crew, drivers, drivers, and other workers involved in transportation operations), regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask over their nose and mouth. Unless otherwise required by the operator or federal, state, tribal, territorial or local authorities, persons are not required to wear a mask while in outdoor areas of a conveyance (if such outdoor areas are present on the conveyance). Oregon residents ages 5 and older have been required to mask in most indoor public spaces since mid-August. An expanded mask order covering crowded outdoor spaces was canceled Nov. 23 as the state reported a steady decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The CDC requires people over the age of 2 to wear a mask on a conveyance (plane, train, vehicle, boat) and in a transportation hub (airport, bus station, seaport, etc.).

Carriers arriving at or departing from a U.S. port of entry must require travelers to wear masks. Private means of transport for non-commercial use, commercial motor vehicles, military means of transport are excluded.