Oregon officials consider making mask mandate PERMANENT in workplaces despite many other states lifting their COVID-19 restrictions amid the vaccine rollout
Oregon officials are considering making its mask mandate permanent in workplaces despite many other states lifting their COVID-19 restrictions amid the nation's vaccine rollout.
Michael Wood, administrator of the state's department of Occupational Safety and Health, said the requirement to wear a face covering and practice social distancing in all businesses across the state may be extended indefinitely.
The proposal would keep the rules in place until they are 'no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace' and would then be repealed.
But the idea has prompted a flood of angry responses, with everyone from parents to teachers to business owners and employees slamming the move as government overreach.
It comes as at least six Republican states have lifted their mask mandates in recent months, with Texas Governor Gregg Abbott going as far as to announce his state 'open 100 percent.'
Oregon officials are considering making its mask mandate permanent in workplaces despite many other states lifting their COVID-19 restrictions amid the nation's vaccine rollout. Oregon Governor Kate Brown
The Oregon health department adopted a temporary emergency rule in November requiring masks, social distancing and pandemic-related training in workplaces across the state.
But the emergency order is set to expire on May 4 and cannot be extended beyond that 180 days.
Wood said the mask mandate should continue for now as he warned Oregonians that 'we are not out of the woods yet.'
Making the rule permanent is simply a way to tackle a technicality in the state law that requires a 'permanent' rule to keep current restrictions from expiring, he said, as he insisted the rule will be 'repealed' as soon as it is safe to do so.
The workplace rule is 'driven by the pandemic, and it will be repealed,' Wood said.
'But, it might not need to go away at exactly the same time the State of Emergency is lifted,' he said.
Wood did not provide a timeframe for when it would be repealed but said the decision will be made based on a complex mix of factors, including case counts, vaccination rates, case severity and advice from the Oregon Health Authority.
'It will be a complicated assessment when we do it, and I would say it is impossibly complicated to do in advance,' Wood said.
Besides mask and distancing requirements, Oregon's proposal includes more arcane workplace rules regarding air flow, ventilation, employee notification in case of an outbreak, and sanitation protocols.
A chart showing COVID-19 cases in the state which has recorded more than 173,000 cases since the start of the pandemic
It dovetails with separate actions issued by Democratic Governor Kate Brown, using a state of emergency declaration, requiring masks in public statewide - and even outside when 6 feet of distance can't be maintained - and providing strict, county-by-county thresholds for business closures or reductions in capacity when case numbers rise above certain levels.
Wood's comments sparked an immediate backlash with his agency receiving a record 5,000-plus public comments - mostly critical - smashing its previous high of 1,100 comments.
Michael Wood, administrator of the state's department of Occupational Safety and Health, said the face mask rule in all businesses may be extended indefinitely
'The majority of comments were simply hostile to the entire notion of COVID-19 restrictions,' Wood said.
'The vast majority of comments were in the context of, 'You never needed to do anything.''
Justin Spaulding, a doctor at the Cataract & Laser Institute of Southern Oregon, is among those who raised concerns about the proposal in public comments.
'I do not understand these new guidelines for business. If we put these into effect we will only continue to blunt the recent drop in business,' he wrote.
'We have a large subset of patients that are unwilling (or) hostile with the current guidelines, and making them permanent will only make it worse.'
A petition on Change.org opposing the rule gained nearly 60,000 signatures and spread on social media, drawing even more interest to the proposal.
State Sen. Kim Thatcher, a Republican from Keizer, blasted the mandate when more of the population are getting vaccinated each day and after businesses have had to play 'mask cop' for the last year.
'When will masks be unnecessary? What scientific studies do these mandates rely on, particularly now that the vaccine is days away from being available to everyone?' she said.
'Businesses have had to play 'mask cop' for the better part of a year now.
'They deserve some certainty on when they will no longer be threatened with fines.'
State residents wearing masks sit in downtown Lake Oswego, Oregon, last Sunday
Opponents also slammed the fact that government officials won't announce a threshold for how low Oregon's COVID-19 case numbers must go or how many people must be vaccinated before the state lifts its COVID-19 restrictions.
The state has some of the nation's strictest safety measures in place.
Wood said he is reviewing all the feedback to see if changes are needed before he makes a final decision by May 4, when the current rules lapse.
To date, almost a third of the state's population - 31.3 percent - have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 38.2 percent receiving their first shot and 24.5 percent fully vaccinated.
Statewide, more than 174,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded since the start of the pandemic and 2,457 people have died.
Brown first introduced a statewide mask mandate last June, requiring everyone over the age of 12 to wear a mask whenever they’re in a public indoor space, such as grocery stores, gyms and shopping malls.
Prior to this, only a handful of counties had mandates in place.
There are some exemptions including: when at your own home and in your own personal vehicle, children under five years old, when eating and drinking and when in a private, individual workspace.
Oregon, a blue state, has been among those with the country's most stringent COVID-19 restrictions and now stands in contrast with much of the rest of the nation as vaccines become more widely available.
More than a third of Oregon's counties are currently limited to indoor social gatherings of six people, and the maximum occupancy for indoor dining, indoor entertainment and gyms is 25 percent capacity or 50 people, whichever is less.
Many schools are only reopening now after a year of online learning.
At least six states - Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Texas - have already lifted mask mandates, and some never implemented them.
In Texas, businesses reopened at 100 percent capacity last month.
Meanwhile, in January, Virginia became the first in the nation to enact permanent COVID-19 workplace safety and health rules.
'While the end of this pandemic is finally in sight, the virus is still spreading - and now is not the time to let up on preventative measures,' Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam said following the announcement.
