Oregon Governor Kate Brown is re-instituting the state’s outdoor mask mandate in many public settings – the first in the nation to do so amid the rising number of coronavirus infections.
The new rules will apply to all residents older than 5, regardless of vaccination status, and apply to most public spaces where people from different households cannot maintain sufficient physical distance from each another.
The policy doesn’t apply to fleeting encounters when people pass each other on the street or a trail, and it doesn’t cover private gatherings. Brown, however, recommended that Oregonians wear masks when gathered at home with visitors from multiple households.
The new rules go into effect on Friday.
