Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced on Tuesday that state residents will be required to wear masks in most public outdoor settings, regardless of vaccination status.
Starting Friday, people must don face coverings outdoors where physical distancing is not possible.
“In addition, the Oregon Health Authority strongly recommends masking in outdoor gatherings at private residences where people from different households do not maintain physical distance,” she added.
Brown stressed that the new rule doesn’t mean people have to always wear a mask outdoors.
“You do not need to mask up for a fleeting pass by on a hiking trail or your morning walk with your dog,” she said. “It does mean that you have to take personal responsibility and use common sense in outdoor spaces.”
The state already had an indoor mask mandate.
Health officials say part of the reasoning for the new outdoor mask mandate is because they are seeing instances where cases are clustering around outdoor events, such as music festivals.
“The harsh reality is that this Delta variant is much more contagious than previous variants we’ve seen,” Brown said. “It has dramatically increased the amount of virus in our communities.”
She added that vaccination “continues to be the best way” to protect oneself from the Delta variant and help healthcare workers who are “working around the clock” to treat those taken ill with COVID-19. Brown said the majority of the patients in intensive care unit beds are unvaccinated people.
