Los Angeles Times

Michael Hiltzik: COVID-19 emergency declarations will end, but not the COVID-19 emergency. Here's how that affects you

A street vendor sells masks on April 7, 2020, in Gardena, California.

One doesn't have to be superstitious to conclude that the COVID-19 gods must be congratulating themselves for their decisive victories over good sense and safe public health practices in the United States.

Anti-pandemic policies are in retreat from coast to coast, in blue states and red alike. Governors and municipal officials have been lifting social distancing mandates left and right.

On Monday, a spectacularly unqualified and inexperienced Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida, employing the twin weapons of ignorance of federal law and specious legal reasoning, invalidated the federal mask mandate for all public transportation.

The ruling, which may be appealed by the Biden administration, subjects travelers and workers on airplanes and trains to heightened health risks. That didn't stop Amtrak and major airlines such as United,

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