During an interview with Fox News Wednesday night, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was asked about the ongoing mixed messaging and arbitrary pandemic rule following from administration officials. In his response, Buttigieg claimed there is a difference between airflow in a ballroom, like the one that will be used this weekend for the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington D.C., and airflow on an airplane.
Biden won't have to wear a mask at the White House Correspondents' dinner on Saturday, yet he's in court trying to force people on planes to wear masks.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 27, 2022
Pete Buttigieg: "Most of us understand the difference between a hotel ballroom and an airplane." pic.twitter.com/Ijd4Cf6ikQ
In order to justify his attendance at the dinner, Buttigieg implied ballrooms are safer than airplanes, where the administration continues to insist masking is necessary. This is not true.
The air on an airplane is circulated every two minutes and is filtered through highly advanced HEPA systems. Boeing explains:
Today's airplanes incorporate cabin air features designed to help protect the safety and health of passengers.
The cabin air flows primarily from ceiling to floor, not front to back, which minimizes contaminants spreading through the cabin.
It is also exchanged every two to three minutes with outside air and through high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters. These HEPA filters, which are similar to those used in hospital operating rooms and industrial clean rooms, trap more than 99.9% of particulates such as bacteria and viruses from the air before it is recirculated to the cabin.
Ballrooms, especially at the old Washington Hilton, do not have the same air filtration systems.