Corona virus impacts on Amtrak

I found a couple of youtube videos made last summer by Steve Kelso that pretty much shows covid's impact on Amtrak. The common theme being empty trains, especially in the sightseer lounge and coach cars. The videos are quite long, the scenery great, but ridership was depressing on all six long distance trains he rode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-TkZ6yPVJQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1zHQWrno38

A Fair Use clip from The New York Times reporting that the Public Transit mask mandate has been extended from March 31 to April 18:

The Transportation Security Administration will extend its mask mandate for airplanes and other public transportation through mid-April, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works with federal agencies to revise mask policies, the two agencies announced on Thursday.

The requirement will extend at least through April 18 at C.D.C.’s recommendations, and will apply to public transportation and transportation hubs. Under the T.S.A.’s rule, passengers on airplanes buses and trains and people in airports, stations and transit hubs must wear masks.

But the relatively short extension, coming as U.S. cases have plummeted from the peak of the Omicron surge, signaled that the federal government may be preparing to wind down the requirements, at least in some places. The C.D.C. was consulting other federal agencies to determine when masks should be required on public transit, taking into account case counts and the risks of new variants, among other metrics.

Notable that the FRA's Illness Summary & Waiver Utilization Dashboard only shows one (1) reported case of covid at Amtrak for the week ending February 26th. Clearly positive news.

The dashboard is on this link
https://explore.dot.gov/views/COVID-19W ... y&:embed=y

CNN reporting here: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/politics ... index.html

It's a short extension for the CDC to get it's act together on this. I would of said two weeks, though.

The mandate was supposed to end on March 18th, not 31st.

Also if you're going to claim a fair use quote, you have to include the link. Here it is.

I also wish it was only for two weeks, but the soaring in Asia and record day in Germany with the even more transmissible Omicron subvariant is concerning. I'd really like to put this in an endemic stage, but at the same time, do mask mandates do anything anymore with the incredibly transmissible variants?

You are wearing a mask may protect you, but it needs to be surgical or n-95. I have both as standbys.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 3:47 pm CNN reporting here: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/politics ... index.html

It's a short extension for the CDC to get it's act together on this. I would of said two weeks, though.

Good to know that after having two years to work on this the CDC is only going to need another 30 days to study the science and data.

They're studying the political science at this point...

My take on the 30 day extension was to give transit agencies and airlines an opportunity to come up with their own policies. I have no doubt the Federal mandate will likely be replaced with local mandates in some cities and possibly Amtrak as a company. As for airlines, it wouldn't surprise me to see some try to stick with masks, but many of the flight attendants are tired of being the mask police and taking the associated abuse that comes along with enforcing an extremely unpopular edict. I'd guess the majority of them dispense with it as a mandate and will simply encourage it.

eolesen wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 5:24 pm They're studying the political science at this point...

My take on the 30 day extension was to give transit agencies and airlines an opportunity to come up with their own policies. I have no doubt the Federal mandate will likely be replaced with local mandates in some cities and possibly Amtrak as a company. As for airlines, it wouldn't surprise me to see some try to stick with masks, but many of the flight attendants are tired of being the mask police and taking the associated abuse that comes along with enforcing an extremely unpopular edict. I'd guess the majority of them dispense with it as a mandate and will simply encourage it.

I think there would be many Amtrak conductors that would side with said flight attendants.

I think there would be many Amtrak conductors who would prefer to not get COVID. And a few who don't think COVID si real.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 2:05 am I think there would be many Amtrak conductors who would prefer to not get COVID. And a few who don't think COVID si real.

What would be stopping the Amtrak conductors from double masking and getting boosters? Is vaccinated me wearing my thin cloth mask, or not, making a difference?

WashingtonPark wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 10:05 am What would be stopping the Amtrak conductors from double masking and getting boosters? Is vaccinated me wearing my thin cloth mask, or not, making a difference?

Yes, but better still a surgical mask or N-95. I only use them whenever I know am going to be in close quarters not able to guarantee 6 feet.

Let us remember that the science behind the virus is being discovered on a daily basis, and that we're over 70% fully vaccinated now. Conditions on the ground and in the air are different than last year. CDC already came out with non-mobile guidance which is letting folks get unmasked. Now it has to get the mobile guidance done.

The only thing we can do now is wait for the new guidance and have the masks on hand when you're out and about... um... wait, gas is getting near $5/gal now. Nobody's going to be "out and about" anytime soon.

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 4:04 pm Let us remember that the science behind the virus is being discovered on a daily basis, and that we're over 70% fully vaccinated now.

That is so true. Do not blame the CDC when changes to guidelines happen. Blame the virus for changing the metrics in unanticipated ways from this day forward. I certainly will keep masks close by going forward and making preparations for the need to go into complete isolation. It is almost like guidelines that were in vogue during the cold war.

west point wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 8:45 pm That is so true. Do not blame the CDC when changes to guidelines happen. Blame the virus for changing the metrics in unanticipated ways from this day forward. I certainly will keep masks close by going forward and making preparations for the need to go into complete isolation. It is almost like guidelines that were in vogue during the cold war.

Well, the initial guidelines were developed when the Spanish Flu came about... and I think we got similar results, save for the speedy vaccine response. We can do better. though.