As mask mandate is struck down, immunocompromised people contemplate travel plans: "I'm especially concerned about who I'll sit next to"
In public transportation hubs across the country, travelers now have the option to go maskless after a federal judge voided the national mask mandate on planes and public transit.
Uber and Lyft joined all U.S. airlines and Amtrak and announced that masks are now optional on all rides.
Genet Abate, an uber driver in the Washington D.C. area said she was "thrilled" to learn the rideshare service dropped its requirement. "I just want to feel free and breathe freely. I feel very safe to not wear a mask," she told CBS News' Errol Barnett.
But not everyone is cheering on the new unmasking on public transit. The 47% spike in COVID-19 cases in just the last 14 days has some high-risk travelers on edge.
"I'm concerned. I'm especially concerned about who I'll sit next to and if they'll be willing to wear a mask," Gretchen Musa said.
She is one of 7 million Americans who are immunocompromised. But despite the risks, Musa is going to stick with her plans to visit her grandparents, who are both in their 90s, in California.
"I needed to weigh whether if I didn't go see them, which might be the safer choice for my physical health. How much regret I would have later in life if I go through my life knowing that I wasn't able to be there for them?" she said.
The Justice Department said Tuesday it will appeal a district judge's decision to end the national mask mandate on public transit only if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the mandate is still necessary.
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