Monday, December 6, 2021

Oregon Health Officials Propose Making Indoor Masks Permanent


In the state of Oregon, the rules governing a declaration of a “public health emergency” expire after 180 days, and the rules and regulations contained inside the declaration cannot be extended by fiat, they require legislative approval.  One of the components of their current regulatory requirements is indoor mask wearing for the public.

To avoid the issue of an expiration of authority, the unelected health officials in Oregon are now proposing a permanent extension of the “public health emergency” that would permit them to continue the arbitrary rules and regulations they created within the emergency declaration.

As a consequence, the regulation requiring indoor mask wearing –along with other measures– would be extended until the bureaucrats removed it.

OREGON – […] Oregon’s indoor mask mandate was imposed from May 2020 to June 2021, lifted briefly, and then reimposed in August. The state’s current mandate is in place until February, but that apparently isn’t good enough in a state where 75% of adults have been fully vaccinated.

The Oregon Health Authority’s Rules Advisory Committee has begun drafting a permanent set of rules for the state’s mask mandate. The permanent rule can be ended at any time by state health leaders, but given Oregon’s track record, which includes at one point mandating that athletes in outdoor sports wear masks during competition, it’s safe to say such a “permanent” rule would be around for quite a while. (read more)