Thousands of Oregonians are furious over a new proposal stated to extend their nearly expired mask mandates until “no longer necessary.”
As current Oregon COVID regulations are set to expire on May 4, Democratic Gov. Kate Brown’s health department has proposed a new mask mandate which has no obvious expiration.
The proposal has received immense resistance, hitting a record number of 5,000 public comments — five times higher than the previous record, according to the Washington Examiner.
Michael Wood, the current administrator for the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division stated that the majority of public comments were “simply hostile to the entire notion of COVID-19 restrictions.”
This comes as no surprise, as Oregonians witness other states slowly begin to lift their restrictions.
The influx of public comments was the result of Wood’s proposal to keep the mask mandate in place until “no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace” last month.
Said proposal was created in response to the nearly expired COVID regulations, set to end on May 4. As many businesses and lives have been ruined by these questionable restrictions, many Oregonians are extremely hesitant to accept this proposal.
Political commenter Liz Wheeler expressed her displeasure on Twitter at the new proposal, reminding citizens when they were told they would only have to stay inside for 15 days.
A year has passed since those events, and citizens around the country are growing increasingly impatient to resume their lives.
Oregon senator strikes back
Republican state Senator Kim Thatcher is furious over the decision, accusing Gov. Brown’s administration of causing more damage to businesses already crippled by the strict regulations.
“When will masks be unnecessary? What scientific studies do these mandates rely on, particularly now that the vaccine is days away from being available to everyone?” Thatcher said.
Oregonians were given no obvious date as to when they would be able to ditch their masks under this proposal, which is understandably disconcerting for many, including Senator Thatcher.
“Businesses have had to play ‘mask cop’ for the better part of a year now. They deserve some certainty on when they will no longer be threatened with fines,” she said.
As over a dozen states begin to lift their mask mandates and administer vaccines to the masses those in more restricted states are increasingly applying pressure to their local administrations.
Others are more disturbed over the fact that President Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci, the country’s top virologist, urge Americans to continue wearing masks after being vaccinated.
