PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Health Authority has adopted "permanent" rules requiring masks in some settings, including schools and health care facilities.
State health and education officials already required masks in schools as a mitigation strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19, but those rules were set to expire Jan. 28. The "permanent" rules allow the health officials to skirt-around temporary rules that expire every 180 days, so in this case, it only means there is no built-in end date.
Health officials said that COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths, transmission data, vaccination rates, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all play a role in the mask requirement decision-making. The CDC still recommends "universal indoor masking" for everyone in schools, regardless of vaccination status.
Education officials say any repeal of masking regulation will depend on the coronavirus.
OHA officials heard from some people late last month speaking out against the masking requirements in schools, with many asking that the decision be placed in the hands of local school districts.
“COVID-19 does not recognize borders and Oregonians do travel between counties,” wrote OHA officials in response to the calls for local control. “Community spread of COVID-19 remains high in Oregon.”
At least one school district, Alsea Schools in Benton County, ignored the state's mask requirement. As a result, some of the districts federal funding is in jeopardy.
“We need to look at the number of COVID-19-positive folks in the hospital who are receiving care and the impact on the ability of the hospitals to provide care,” Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer and epidemiologist, said in a news conference on Friday. “What we know right now is that those numbers are still increasing but are anticipated to peak soon – within the next week to week and a half – and then are anticipated to come down rather quickly.”
Outside of extending the mask mandate in certain settings, the new rule also keeps in place Oregon's COVID vaccine requirement for school staff.
