Oregon could be the first state to make its indoor mask mandate permanent.
Last week, the Oregon Health Authority assembled a Rules Advisory Committee to evaluate whether a permanent indoor mask mandate might be necessary and how it could be implemented. The committee included several community leaders, including representatives from the hospitality industry and faith communities, according to local ABC affiliate KATU.
INDOOR MASKING IN OREGON — It’s likely here to STAY.
Today, @OHAOregon worked with stakeholders (like those in the restaurant industry, business assoc., etc.) to discuss making the current indoor mask mandate permanent.#LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/r0gkNnWfsi
— Genevieve Reaume (@GenevieveReaume) December 3, 2021
However, Oregon’s health officials are already scrambling to claim the permanent mask mandate wouldn’t be permanent. Dr. Paul Cieslak, OHA’s medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations, claimed the mandate could always be repealed, even if it was made permanent.
“Permanent means indefinite. It doesn’t necessarily mean permanent,” Cieslak said. “We can repeal it as well, but we are only allowed to have a temporary rule for 180 days, and anything that goes beyond 180 days, we cannot extend it.”
Of course, if you’re the state’s hypocritical, leftist governor, or among Oregon’s rich elite, permanent means never, as noted by Stan Pulliam, GOP gubernatorial candidate.
.@OregonGovBrown hobnobbing maskless with the D.C. political elite while mandating Oregonians and our children be confined to masks is hypocrisy at its worse. Oregonians deserve new leadership that leads alongside our neighbors, not dictates from afar. https://t.co/muvkcZHzwV
— Mayor Stan Pulliam (@StanPulliam) December 6, 2021
This is not the first time OHA has proposed making the indoor mask mandate permanent. Back in March, state health officials proposed making social distancing and masking the go-to standard for all workplaces.
“Although the rule must be adopted as a permanent rule, its purpose is to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” OHA said at the time. “Oregon [Occupational Safety and Health] intends to repeal the rule when it is no longer necessary to address the pandemic.”
Oregon has some of the strictest coronavirus restrictions in the country. In August, Gov. Kate Brown reinstated an outdoor mask mandate that was finally released in November.
