Mask mandate: Biden signs order requiring masks on federal property

By Josh Herman, Countable News

What's the story?

• In one of his first actions as president, Joe Biden signed a mask mandate requiring face masks be worn in all federal buildings, on federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors. This includes places like national parks, trains, buses, and planes.
• Biden's order also includes a "100 Days Masking Challenge," encouraging Americans to commit to wearing a face covering for the first 100 days of his administration.
• It was one of fifteen executive orders Biden signed on his first day in office, which also included rejoining the Paris climate accord and a removal of Trump's travel ban affecting Muslim-majority countries.
• “It's requiring, as I said all along, where I have authority, mandating masks be worn, social distancing be kept on federal property,” Biden explained from the Oval Office.

“There is a big difference between a policy and a federal mandate,” Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association union, told aviation site Cirium. “A company policy doesn’t carry as much weight. When you use the words ‘federal mandate’ it gets attention.”

• America's cumulative death toll of 400,000 exceeds any other country's overall mortality.