Paul Faust, a JetBlue passenger and fervent proponent of Israel, noticed a flight attendant with a Free Palestine pin on her uniform.

Passengers wearing protective masks hold American and British flags before a JetBlue flight to London at JFK International Airport in the Queens borough of New York City, New York, U.S., August 11, 2021. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Ben Burke Producer

U.S.

Mask mandate extended as Gov. Abbott is the latest high-profile breakthrough case

Aug 18, 2021

Ben Burke Producer

By Ben Burke (Producer)

On the same day we learned federal officials are extending the mask mandate for airline flights and other transportation until next January, we also learned Texas Governor Greg Abbott has become the latest high-level official to contract a breakthrough case of COVID-19. The video above shows a video message Gov. Abbott tweeted out Tuesday.

“I have received the COVID-19 vaccine and that may be one reason why I’m not really feeling any symptoms right now,” Abbott said. “I have no fever, no aches and pains, no other types of symptoms.”

Abbot’s spokesman said Abbott is isolating in the governor’s mansion in Austin and receiving monoclonal antibody treatment.

As the quarantine continued Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration was set to discuss the mask mandate extension with airline unions. The TSA briefed airline industry representatives on the plan Tuesday.

The current mask mandate was supposed to end Sept. 13. The new extension will keep it in place until Jan. 18.

The extension comes as the Delta variant is fueling a surge of COVID-19 cases. The seven-day average of new cases has topped 140,000, an increase of 64 percent from two weeks ago and the highest level in more than six months.

Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines have reported a recent slump due in part to the case surge, as well as the usual slowdown that occurs near the end of the summer.

The mandate has caused issues between passengers who don’t want to wear a mask and flight attendants asked to enforce the rule. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, airlines have reported 3,889 incidents involving unruly passengers this year. 2,867 of those incidents, about 74 percent, involved refusing to wear a mask.

Despite these incidents, the largest union of flight attendants said the extension will help keep passengers and aviation workers safe.

“We have a responsibility in aviation to keep everyone safe and do our part to end the pandemic, rather than aid the continuation of it,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said. “We all look forward to the day masks are no longer required, but we’re not there yet.”

Tags: Pandemic

Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Texas: “Hi, this is Gov. Greg Abbott. As you may have heard by now, I have tested positive for COVID-19. I test myself every day and today is the first day that I tested positive. The good news is that my wife continues to test negative. Also want you to know that I have received the COVID-19 vaccine and that may be one reason why I’m not really feeling any symptoms right now. I have no fever, no aches and pains, no other types of symptoms. Also I want to express my gratitude for everybody across the entire country that has been sending in their well wishes. Similarly, I want to send well wishes myself to everybody across the country and especially here in Texas for everybody else who is going through the challenge of having COVID. I want you to know as I work my way through this I will stay engaged every single day on everything happening at the Texas Capitol including working with the members of the legislature as well as the members across the entire state to keep Texas the best state in the United States. God bless you all and God bless Texas.”