CDC says US travelers can avoid wearing masks in outdoor transit hubs, ferries

FILE PHOTO: People walk without protective masks in Times Square amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it will no longer require travelers to wear masks in outdoor transit hubs and in outdoor spaces on ferries, buses and trolleys.

The change is the first in the CDC’s transit mask policy announced in January and came after a lengthy review by the White House Office of Management and Budget’s regulatory arm.

The CDC said it made the change “because of the lower risk of transmission outdoors … Masks are still required indoors on all forms of transportation” regardless of vaccination status.