Masks Can Go Away on March 31 or Earlier if Metrics are Hit

​The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced today Oregon will remove general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31. This would include restaurant customers and employees.

OHA shared in a release, "By late March, health scientists expect that about 400 or fewer Oregonians would be hospitalized with COVID-19, the level of hospitalizations the state experienced before the Omicron variant began to spread. Mask requirements for schools will be lifted on March 31."

State health officials say Oregon "needs to keep mask requirements in place for now as COVID-19 hospitalizations crest and Oregon’s health care system strains to treat high numbers of severely ill patients."

Officials at OHA also filed a permanent rule requiring masks indoors in public places. This new rule replaces a temporary rule that expires tomorrow, February 8. As a reminder, the filing of a permanent rule was the only way health officials could extend the current temporary mask rule past its expiration date and until mask rules would no longer be needed to reduce transmission of COVID-19 and prevent the Omicron crisis from further overwhelming Oregon’s health care system.

For questions or for more information, contact your Regional Representative. 

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