Thursday the CDC announced it was extending the mask mandate for air travel and public transit at least through April 18.

Speaking at a press conference, the White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that federal scientists would need to incorporate varying risk levels across the country…and overseas.

“When you get on an airplane, you travel to different places, right? You’re not just static in one place,” she said on Thursday at a news briefing. “If you’re moving from one zone to another and you’re picking people up from one zone to another, it’s a little bit different. And that requires some consultation, which is what they’re going to endeavor to do between now and April.”

And let’s not forget that while COVID cases are down in the US, there are places, such as Southeast Asia, which are suffering from devastating Omicron losses.