{"id":78694,"date":"2022-03-13T12:12:57","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T18:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=78694"},"modified":"2022-03-13T12:12:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T18:12:57","slug":"78694","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=78694","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Oregon and Washington lift mask requirements today<\/a><\/p>\n

PORTLAND \u2014 After spending a majority of the pandemic under statewide indoor face covering requirements, Washington and Oregon will be lifting their mask mandates Saturday \u2014 marking a significant step in restoring normalcy.<\/p>\n

The milestone, which comes two years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, is on trend with the rest of the country as public health orders were dropped in droves. Oregon and Washington are among the last states to lift mask requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re turning a page in our fight against the COVID virus,\u201d Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said during a recent news conference.<\/p>\n

Last month \u2014 as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations drastically declined, following a surge caused by the omicron variant \u2014 Oregon and Washington\u2019s Democratic governors announced that they would be lifting rules requiring masks in indoor public places and schools on March 12.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo years ago today, we identified Oregon\u2019s first case of COVID-19,\u201d Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement. \u201cOn the West Coast our communities and economies are linked. Together, as we continue to recover from the Omicron surge, we will build resiliency and prepare for the next variant and the next pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other state and federal mask requirements, including in health care setting and public transit, still exist. In addition health officials continue to recommend that people at higher risk of severe complications of COVID-19 \u2014 including those who are unvaccinated \u2014 wear masks.<\/p>\n

However school districts and local governments have the option to continue requiring masks.<\/p>\n

Seattle Public Schools, the state\u2019s largest district with about 50,000 students, says it will lift its COVID-19 mask mandate beginning Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased that COVID-19 cases continue to fall in SPS schools and King County,\u201d the district said. \u201cHowever, there may be times when we will need to bring back effective mitigations if there is an increase in community, classroom, or school-wide transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Oregon, Colt Gill the director for the Department of Education Director said that while many schools are immediately lifting mask requirements, others are keeping it through spring break and some are still in \u201cdecision making mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Individual businesses, employers and other organizations in Oregon similarly have the option of requiring masks.<\/p>\n

Several performance arts venues in Portland \u2014 including the Oregon Symphony, Portland Center Stage, Milagro Theatre and The Reser \u2014 said they would continue to require face masks and proof of vaccination for audiences after the statewide mandate ends Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Portland Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter announced plans earlier this week to do away with their mask and proof of COVID-19 vaccination requirements come Saturday. Fred Meyer will also be dropping its masking requirement.<\/p>\n

Mask mandates have been a major point of contention throughout the pandemic with large protests, residents crying government overreach and a plethora of complaints.<\/p>\n

The two Pacific Northwest states have had some of the strictest COVID-19 safety measures and restrictions throughout the pandemic \u2014 a move that health officials estimate saved thousands of lives.<\/p>\n

In Oregon there has been indoor mask requirements since June 2020, with a brief one-month pause last summer. By August, Gov. Brown had reinstituted the mask mandate as the delta variant led to an alarming spike in cases and hospitalizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast summer we found ourselves in a similar position to radically change our approach to fighting COVID…then we had to confront new variants,\u201d Dean Sidelinger, Oregon\u2019s state epidemiologist, said during a press conference on Friday. \u201cThis time feels different because it is different. We have higher levels of immunity. We have additional treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while there\u2019s no immediate indication that statewide mask mandates will return, health officials also aren’t ruling out the option.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think as individuals, and as communities, we need to be prepared to take additional steps if the situation changes and we face more variants that cause more severe disease,\u201d Sidelinger said. \u201cBut for the time being, we can move forward as individuals and individual communities — making decisions based on the conditions on the ground and the risk factors for those around them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oregon and Washington lift mask requirements today PORTLAND \u2014 After spending a majority of the pandemic under statewide indoor face covering requirements, Washington and Oregon will be lifting their mask mandates Saturday \u2014 marking a significant step in restoring normalcy. The milestone, which comes two years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-goobermint","category-health-medicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78695,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78694\/revisions\/78695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}