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Wearing a face mask will continue to be a requirement at airports, aboard commercial flights and on other public transportation around the country through the summer.

The federal mask mandate, which was set to expire on May 11, will remain in effect through Sept. 13, according to 

 issued by the Transportation Security Administration on Friday. 

The rule also applies to buses and rail systems and was 

 by President Joe Biden shortly after he took office in January. 

For more than a year, major U.S. commercial airlines have 

 older than 2 years old to wear face masks on flights. The policy has 

 from people who refuse to keep their masks on, often delaying flights. 

The TSA's extension comes as average daily confirmed U.S. cases of COVID-19 and deaths as a result of the coronavirus 

"The federal mask requirement throughout the transportation system seeks to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on public transportation," senior TSA official Darby LaJoye said in a statement.

"We will continue to work closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to evaluate the need for these directives and recognize the significant level of compliance thus far," she added.

Just this week, the CDC said people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask 

, more than 40 percent of the U.S. population has received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and about 30 percent is fully vaccinated. CDC data also projects that close to 85 percent of the country could be fully vaccinated by the end of August.

 that 1.56 million people traveled through airport checkpoints on Friday, compared to around 171,000 on the same day in 2020. Just weeks earlier, TSA reported its

 of air travel since the pandemic began, with more than 1.58 million people traveling. That said, numbers remain significantly lower than in 2019.

At the beginning of April, the CDC announced that Americans who are fully vaccinated 

 while still wearing a mask and socially distancing. The guidance specifically notes that nonessential travel should continue to be avoided when possible.

While the prospect of Americans traveling internationally faces additional roadblocks, fully vaccinated Americans will be permitted to travel to countries within the European Union 

. Currently, travel to the U.S. from much of Europe is 

A handful of international travel bans also remain in place for several countries outside of the European Union, including in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, where contagious variants of the virus have originated. 

India is the latest country to face heightened restrictions from the U.S., following a continuing 

 throughout the country. The ban on travelers from India is set to officially take effect Tuesday.  

Health

Transportation

COVID-19

Elena Moore

Author

Even as COVID-19 cases decrease and more Americans get vaccinated, the Transportation Security Administration is keeping strict regulations on mask-wearing when traveling domestically. 

TSA extends mask mandate aboard flights through summer as travel increases

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