Aug. 13, 2021
Gov. Kate Brown’s reinstated mask mandate goes into effect today, requiring all Oregonians age 5 and older to wear a face covering in indoor public spaces.
It’s a smart move, one that is unequivocally supported by St. Charles. The highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly through our communities and overwhelming our hospitals. In addition, our data shows that we are still weeks away from the peak of this current surge.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is we already know the best way out of this pandemic, and that’s by vaccinating more people, wearing masks in public places and practicing good hand hygiene.
When people get vaccinated, they greatly protect themselves against severe illness and death from COVID-19. When you wear your mask, you slow the spread of the virus, protect others from infection and hospitalization and reduce strain on our health system. And please believe me: We need to reduce the strain on our health system. Right now.
So if you haven’t gotten vaccinated, please do so ASAP.
Now, let’s talk about masks.
Unfortunately, I think we can expect compliance with Gov. Brown’s mask mandate to be significantly lower this time around, for many reasons: people are tired of wearing them, they believe the danger has passed, they’ve dug in their heels in opposition. Some people may simply be confused, or they may believe that if they’re vaccinated, there is no need to wear a mask.
Today, I want to urge each and every person reading this to wear a mask in indoor public spaces and in crowded outdoor spaces. In fact, I would say it’s never been more important to wear your mask during this pandemic than it is right now.
It’s also becoming increasingly important that you choose the right mask. I know there’s a lot of confusion about the different types and how well each one works. Below, I’m going to try to provide some very simple and clear guidance to help you make sure you’re buying and wearing the right mask for you.
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