Oregon is banning indoor social gatherings of more than 10 people and will require people to wear face coverings outdoors when they cannot maintain a 6-foot distance from people outside their households, Gov. Kate Brown announced Monday morning.
The new limit on indoor gatherings does not apply to houses of worship and businesses, the governor said in a press conference via teleconference and video. Both mandates take effect Wednesday.
Brown announced the new measure as Oregon’s coronavirus transmission rate has increased dramatically and threatens to spiral out of control, with cases projected to triple in the next six weeks.
Just three days ago, state officials asked people to voluntarily limit indoor get togethers to no more than 10 because a growing number of cases were tied to exercise classes, fraternities, and bachelor or bachelorette parties.
“We reported more cases in the last week than we did in the entire month of May,” Brown said on Monday. “Half of all cases are from people under the age of 40 and one-third of all cases are from people under the age of 30.”
The governor said people in their 20s and 30s are currently “far and away the most likely group to get sick with COVID 19″ and two people in their thirties are known to have died from the disease.
“We have done so much, we have come so far. We have sacrificed so deeply, we cannot let this virus get the best of us,” Brown said. She reiterated her frequent plea for people to follow public health guidance — and mandates — to slow the spread of coronavirus, so Oregon can avoid returning to a broader economic shutdown.
“I hope I don’t have to go the route of Texas and California and close bars and restaurants, but nothing is off the table,” Brown said.
Nearly all of Oregon’s 36 counties are in Phase 2 of coronavirus reopening, in which gatherings of up to 50 people are allowed. Four counties — Lincoln, Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas — remain in Phase 1, with gatherings capped at 25.
For people planning indoor weddings, the new 10-person cap means an even tinier guest list. Attendees at outdoor weddings will need to maintain at least 6 feet of distance from people outside their households or else wear masks.
An exception is weddings “held at an event venue or a restaurant in a Phase 2 county” which “would fall under the current health and safety guidance for those types of businesses, with a maximum occupancy of 250 or the number of people who can fit in that venue with physical distancing in place, whichever is fewer,” Brown’s Deputy Communications Director Charles Boyle wrote in an email.
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The governor said state regulators were out checking businesses for compliance the weekend of July 4th and businesses that ignore rules aimed at controlling the spread of coronavirus will face consequences, from fines to “ultimately closing down businesses that refuse to protect their employees and their customers.” She did not have any figures on how many, if any, citations or other actions regulators have taken.
In expanding her mask requirement to outdoors, Brown is now following the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that Americans wear masks in “public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”
Oregon’s statewide face covering requirements were previously among the more lenient in the nation, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Most of the 24 states with statewide mask mandates already require them in both indoor and outdoor settings where people cannot maintain social distancing, according to the group #Masks4All.
The governor took several questions from reporters about what the fast rising case numbers, and new public health orders, could mean for the approaching school year. Brown insisted repeatedly that in contrast to her April order closing schools statewide, state and local officials will decide on a district-by-district level where it makes sense to return to in-person classes, stick with online and distance learning or use a hybrid approach.
“The reopening process will take a much more granular, targeted, localized approach,” Brown said. “It’s probably gonna look different in different districts. Some schools may be able to safely reopen in the fall. Some may have to go to a hybrid model, some in classroom and some online, and some school districts may have to go to fully online.”
When pressed by a reporter for specifics about what might prompt her to extend the statewide school closure, Brown declined to point to a single metric and Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen suggested it would be unwise to make such a commitment when researchers are rapidly learning more about the virus and its health effects.
“I don’t know what that point would be at this point in time,” the governor said. “So I don’t want to give you a bright red line when I don’t have one. But I think we have to try a community-wide, targeted approach to at least get some of our school districts open. My hope is that all of our school districts can open.”
-- Hillary Borrud: hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud
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