On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will extend the federal mask mandate for all transportation through May 3rd due to the recent rise in BA.2 variant cases. The mask mandate for travel on airplanes, in airports, on buses, and rail systems was set to expire on April 18th.

The Hill reports:

“In order to assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC Order will remain in place at this time. At CDC’s recommendation, TSA will extend the security directive and emergency amendment for 15 days, through May 3, 2022,” a CDC spokesperson told The Hill.

This extension of the TSA mask mandate is the shortest yet. The mandate has been in place for 14 months and initially went into effect with an expiration date of May 2021.

TSA extended it a few times, most recently in March by one month. Before that, it was extended in December before it was set to expire just after the new year.

The White House was under pressure to make a decision on whether to extend the mandate in light of the rise in cases and White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said earlier this week that extending the mandate was “absolutely” being considered.

Earlier in the week Philadelphia, PA announced it was also reimposing its indoor mask mandate.