The Oregon Health Authority announced on Feb. 7 that the state will lift its mask mandate for indoor spaces, including schools, by March 31 due to a predicted 400 or fewer patients hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide. If numbers continue to drop, the mandate may lift even sooner.
Businesses will still have the ability to enforce their own mask policies. But, I can honestly say I don’t have much hope for customers to willingly put on a mask after the state mandate drops — not without a fight, at least. The mask requirement will also lift for schools of all ages, despite the CDC still advising the use of masks for all individuals aged 2 years and older.
Schools are the last place we should lift the mask mandate –– with our densely packed classrooms and limited number of faculty members. For instance, on the same day OHA announced the plan to lift the mask mandate, UO reported it had 183 positive or presumptive positive cases within the community during the previous week. Sure, not every person who has COVID-19 on campus will be hospitalized, but without a mask they very well could spread the virus to others in the classroom before they even begin to present symptoms.
Because the mandate specifically refers to K-12 schools, we do not yet know what the lifted mandate could mean for those at the university level.
The OHA press release may brag about Oregon having the “third lowest cumulative COVID-19 case rate in the nation and the seventh lowest COVID-19 death rate since the start of the pandemic,” but that does not equate to having no cases or deaths. We shouldn’t act like the pandemic is over because there are fewer documented deaths caused by COVID-19 while the virus is still spreading.
In a video from the Oregon Public Health Division, state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger even acknowledged how important masks are in slowing COVID-19’s spread.
“The evidence from Oregon and around the country is clear: Masks save lives by slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Sidelinger said. “We are making this announcement today as a testament to your collective efforts to stem the tide of the virus throughout the course of this pandemic.”
It’s rather interesting to listen to a state health officer laud the usefulness of masks throughout the pandemic, stating we “cannot drop our guard and risk a resurgence that could overwhelm our healthcare system,” but in the same statement declaring masks will no longer be required in indoor public spaces. “Not overwhelmed” shouldn’t be the ideal standard of our healthcare system, and the lifting of the mask mandate drops our guard considerably.
It’s rather upsetting to have Oregonians’ efforts to prevent the spread of the virus both acknowledged yet quickly nullified by the actions of state officials. All of our progress — two years worth of it — could go down the drain beginning in April, and we shouldn’t let that happen silently.
Make some noise; reach out to the OHA and Governor Kate Brown and ask them to hold onto the mandate until case numbers have dropped significantly nationwide. In the meantime, keep your damn mask on.
