The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) drafted a sweeping order the previous month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials.
The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day.
The officials said it was drafted under the agency's "quarantine powers" and had the support of Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, but the White House coronavirus task force, led by VP Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it.
The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to comment, said the order would have required face coverings on airplanes, trains, buses and subways, and in transit hubs such as airports, train stations and bus depots.
A task force official said the decision to require masks should be left up to states and localities.
The administration requires the task force to sign off on coronavirus-related policies.
"The approach the task force has taken with any mask mandate is, the response in New York City is different than in Montana, or Tuscaloosa, Alabama," said the official.
"Local and state authorities need to determine the best approach for their responsive effort depending on how the coronavirus is impacting their area."
Most public health officials believe that wearing masks is one of the most effective ways to protect against the spread of the virus, particularly in crowded, poorly ventilated public places that attract people from all over, like transportation venues.
Several feel that the Trump administration has turned the wearingor not wearingof masks into a political expression, as seen most dramatically last Monday evening when US President Donald Trump whipped off his surgical mask at the White House door after returning from the hospital where he was treated for Covid-19.
"I think masks are the most powerful weapon we've to confront Covid-19 and we all need to embrace masks and set the example for each other," Dr Robert Redfield, the CDC director, who oversaw the drafting of the order, said in a recent interview.
NYTIMES