Oregon issues mask mandate
Starting Friday, face coverings will be required inside all public spaces, the governor says.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Gov. Kate Brown has announced a statewide indoor mask requirement in Oregon as COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases reach record high numbers in the state and healthcare systems are overwhelmed.
Beginning Friday, everyone 5 years or older in Oregon — regardless of vaccination status — will be required to wear a mask in indoor public spaces. Brown had urged local officials to implement their own mandates, but almost none did.
The newest coronavirus health and safety measure in Oregon applies to all indoor public spaces, including businesses, grocery stores, indoor entertainment venues and gyms. In addition, people older than 2 will be required to wear masks on public transit.
There are some exemptions for activities, including eating, drinking, swimming and organized sports.
The mask mandate, announced Tuesday, comes as the state on Wednesday set a second consecutive record of hospitalized COVID-19 patients — 665 people. The previous record, 622, was set during November’s surge, when vaccines were not yet available.
Intensive care unit beds across the state are about 90% full, and some areas have fewer than five ICU beds available, Brown said.
“Oregon is facing a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations — consisting overwhelmingly of unvaccinated individuals — that is quickly exceeding the darkest days of our winter surge,” Brown said. “When our hospitals are full, there will be no room for additional patients needing care — whether for COVID-19, a heart attack or stroke, a car collision or a variety of other emergency situations.”
The Pacific Northwest state is not alone. In Florida, Arkansas and Louisiana, COVID-19 is clobbering health systems with more people hospitalized with the virus than at any other point in the pandemic — straining and overwhelming the already limited staff.
Health officials in Oregon warned that, without new health and safety interventions in place, COVID-19 hospitalizations would far exceed the state’s health system capacity in the next several weeks.
Brown described the latest projections as a stark reminder that “the pandemic is far from over” and a “disappointing reminder that we still have dark days ahead.”
“The latest science is clear that both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals are able to spread the Delta variant,” she said. “Masks are simple, and they are effective.”
Oregon is the third state — joining Hawaii and Louisiana — to require vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear masks inside public spaces statewide. The mandates emerged amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S., driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Some states are going beyond mask measures, requiring healthcare workers and state employees to be vaccinated. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that California would become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly coronavirus testing.
Some officials in several Republican-led states that have banned mask mandates — including Arizona, Texas and Florida — are now defying their state’s prohibitions as school districts require masks ahead of students’ return.