Residents of Oregon are reportedly fuming about a recent proposal by a top health official to keep mask and social distancing mandates until they are "no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace."
According to the Associated Press, the administrator of the state's department of Occupational Safety and Health Michael Wood said that the move was necessary to "address a technicality in state law that requires a "permanent" rule to keep current restrictions from expiring."
Wood's proposal received a flood of angry backlashes from almost every member of the working masses from parents to teachers to business owners and employees. Believing that this is already a government overreach, their strong opposition to the proposal led to the now 60,000 signatures in their petition via change.org and spread broadly through social media.
Woods' agency reportedly received over 5,000 public comments, a great escalation from the previously recorded 1,100 comments. Woods described the vast majority of comments as in the context of 'You never needed to do anything.'
Those in opposition to the proposal also expressed frustrations over their government officials' incompetence at determining "how low Oregon's COVID-19 case numbers must go, or how many people would have to be vaccinated, to get the requirements lifted in a state that's already had some of the nation's strictest safety measures," noted AP.
Among those who raised concerns in the public comment section is Justin Spaulding who is a doctor at the Cataract & Laser Institute of Southern Oregon.
"We have a large subset of patients that are unwilling (or) hostile with the current guidelines, and making them permanent will only make it worse," he said.
"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?" said state Sen. Kim Thatcher, a Republican from Keizer.
"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," he added.
Sen. Thatcher also found fault with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for their lack of clarity on when the current COVID-19 rules will be lifted.
As for Wood, he said that he is reviewing all the feedback for possible changes before the lapse of the current rule on May 4.
AP reports further that Oregon officials said that they intend to repeal the rule, but that will depend on the evaluation and advice of the Oregon Health Authority.
"It will be a complicated assessment when we do it, and I would say it is impossibly complicated to do in advance," Wood said.
Oregon was reportedly the state which has the "most stringent COVID-19 restrictions." But despite the availability and nationwide rollout of vaccines, the state may hold out for a bit longer with the introduction of the "permanent rule."
Other states like Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Texas have reportedly lifted their mask mandates -with some never seeing the need to implement them. Last month, businesses in Texas started operating in 100% capacity.
