Several airline CEOs testified to Congress on Wednesday their objections to mask-wearing on airplanes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
That didn’t fly with Dr. Peter Hotez, who has appeared frequently on television to provide his opinion on the pandemic.
CNN Newsroom on Thursday played a clip of Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker questioning the need for masks on planes.
“I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,” said Kelly. “It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting.
“I concur. The aircraft is the safest place you can be,” said Parker. “It’s true of all of our aircraft. They all have these HEPA filters and the same airflow.”
Anchor Ana Cabrera asked Hotez, “Would you get on a plane right now or in the coming weeks without a mask?”
“No. And, you know, we have data from the National Academy of Sciences … a systematic review and we also have, you know, randomized clinical trial designs that were done in Bangladesh by Stanford and Yale. So the data supports the use of masks,” replied Hotez. “But also why say this now when we have the most transmissible variant of all accelerating? I don’t know. Some of these CEOs have the emotional intelligence of a doorknob. I don’t know why they would say that kind of thing.”
Watch above, via CNN.