January 31, 2020
National Institutes of Health official Dr. Anthony Fauci (C) speaks about the coronavirus during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar (L) announced that the United States is declaring the virus a public health emergency and issued a federal quarantine order of 14 days for 195 Americans. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI |
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May 5 (UPI) -- Oregon has adopted a rule to indefinitely extend workplace COVID-19 safety measures including mask mandates as Gov. Kate Brown lowered the coronavirus threat level for more than a dozen counties.
The state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the adoption of the rule Tuesday, stating in a press release that the rule is largely the same as the temporarily one put in place in November except for it will be in effect until it is "no longer needed to address the COVID-19 pandemic."
Michael Wood, administrator of Oregon OSHA, said the rule went through the normal adoption process and was opened to the public for comment unlike the temporary rule, which could not stand for more than 180 days.
"We reviewed all of the comments -- including the many comments that opposed the rule -- and we gave particular consideration to those comments that explained their reasoning or provided concrete information," he said. "Although we chose to move forward with the rule, the final product includes a number of changes based on that record."
Oregon OSHA said it had determined that due to the pandemic a rule extension was needed to ensure workers had basic protections, but added it is more detailed than the temporary measure and includes criteria that will be used to make decisions on when it can be repealed.
"To allow the workplace COVID-19 protections to simply go away would have left workers far less protected," Wood said. "And it would have left employers who want to know what is expected of them with a good deal less clarity than the rule provides."
Because Oregon OSHA said it could not have a sunset date, a consulting committee of infectious disease experts, the Oregon Health Authority and other stakeholders will meet to discuss when the rule can be repealed, with its first meeting to take place no later than July. The committee will meet every two months after that if it is still in effect.
"We are keeping in place key protections for workers a part of Oregon's larger and ongoing project to defeat COVID-19," Wood said.
The rule was adopted as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday announced the risk level for more than a dozen counties will be lowered from the Extreme Risk Level from Friday as the statewide seven-day average increase for hospitalized COVID-19 patients dropped below 15%.
The 15 counties will be lowered to the High Risk Level, which means substantial spread of the virus, but allows for indoor dining though capacity cannot exceed 25% of full occupancy or 50 people, whichever is smaller. It also increases outdoor space capacity by 20 compared to the Extreme Risk Level to 120 people, among other changes.
Brown said as more people are vaccinated against the virus, she hopes counties will never again return to the Extreme Risk Level.
"I think this will bring relief to many across the state. However, the lifting of Extreme Risk health and safety measures comes with great personal responsibility for us all," she said. "If Oregonians continue to keep up their guard, follow High Risk health and safety measures and get vaccinated as fast as possible, we should see our COVID-19 case and hospitalization rate decline."
According to the Oregon Health Authority, nearly 43% of the state has received one of two coronavirus vaccine shots with 30% being fully vaccinated.
The state has reported 187,611 positive coronavirus cases, including 2,508 deaths, it said.
