The BulleTin • Sunday, June 13, 2021 A3
TODAY
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
COVID-19 in Oregon
Mask requirements are unlikely to
return even in areas with flare-ups
BY AIMEE GREEN
The Oregonian
As Oregon counts down the
days until Gov. Kate Brown
lifts coronavirus restrictions,
one of the state’s top health of-
ficials said Friday it’s highly
unlikely mask requirements
would return even in the event
of outbreaks in counties with
low vaccination rates.
Brown has pledged to lift
mask requirements in all but
a few situations when 70% of
Oregonians 18 and older are
at least partially vaccinated,
which is projected to happen
later this month.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Ore-
gon’s epidemiologist and health
officer, said he doubts the Or-
egon Health Authority would
recommend reinstituting
mask requirements and other
COVID-19 safety precautions
down the road. “But I don’t
want to take anything off the
table if the situation dramati-
cally changes,” he said.
Some counties with a his-
tory of significant coronavirus
spread now have vaccination
rates as low as 35% among
those 16 and older. Sidelinger
acknowledged that even if the
governor continued to mandate
masks for unvaccinated people,
it might not do any good.
“Even a requirement,”
Sidelinger said, “isn’t necessar-
ily going to get people to wear
masks.”
Sidelinger’s comments Fri-
day make clear that the change,
first announced by Brown the
week before, is expected to
be permanent. Neither vacci-
nated nor unvaccinated people
2021
The “Umbrella
Man” statue
in downtown
Portland’s
Pioneer Square
wears a face
mask in April
2020. Masks have
been a flashpoint
throughout
the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the
number of new
known infections
has been
declining for the
past month or so.
Dave Killen/
The Oregonian file
will be required to wear masks
when Oregon hits the 70%
threshold.
The issue of masks has often
been divisive throughout the
pandemic and, while shown to
be effective at reducing trans-
mission, has remained a flash-
point for some.
According to a New York
Times tracker, most states that
have reopened don’t require
masks for the unvaccinated or
vaccinated in almost all situa-
tions. At least eight reopened
states — including New York,
Pennsylvania and Illinois —
are still requiring unvaccinated
people to wear masks indoors,
based on recommendations
from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Those
states also lifted mask man-
dates for vaccinated people, ex-
cept in limited circumstances
like in airplanes, because of the
CDC guidance.
It’s unclear if several other
states that have yet to reopen
will require face coverings for
those who are unvaccinated,
although California says it will.
Earlier Friday, Brown fum-
bled as she tried to explain how
her plan to allow unvaccinated
Oregonians to go without
masks in most indoor public
spaces later this month follows
the latest CDC recommenda-
tions.
“We have continued to follow
science and data and worked
very closely with our federal
partners, including the CDC
regarding masking guidelines,”
Brown said initially when de-
fending her mask-free policy.
The CDC guidance for un-
vaccinated people says, in part:
“Everyone 2 years and older
should wear masks in public,”
and “Masks should be worn
in addition to staying at least
6 feet apart, especially around
people who don’t live with
you.”
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When asked why she wasn’t
planning to follow CDC guid-
ance, Brown referred the ques-
tion to Sidelinger.
“I would recommend that
even when we reopen if you’re
not vaccinated you consider
wearing a mask, consider lim-
iting the activities that you take
part in because you’re not pro-
tected,” Sidelinger said.
When asked again, Brown
seemed to express hope that
the CDC might change its
mask recommendations in the
next few weeks.
“We’re waiting to see what
the CDC guidelines are going
to be as we reopen,” Brown
said. “We know that they are
examining the guidelines for
the education system. And I
suspect they will be re-examin-
ing other masking guidelines.
And we will continue to watch
to see what the federal agen-
cies, including the CDC do in
this arena.”
It’s Sunday, June 13, the 164th day
of 2021. There are 201 days left in
the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled
in Miranda v. Arizona that criminal
suspects had to be informed of
their constitutional right to consult
with an attorney and to remain
silent.
In 1842, Queen Victoria became
the first British monarch to ride
on a train, traveling from Slough
Railway Station to Paddington in
25 minutes.
In 1911, the ballet “Petrushka,”
with music by Igor Stravinsky and
choreography by Michel Fokine,
was first performed in Paris by the
Ballets Russes, with Vaslav Nijinsky
in the title role.
In 1942, a four-man Nazi sabotage
team arrived on Long Island, New
York, three days before a second
four-man team landed in Florida.
All eight men were arrested after
two members of the first group
defected. President Franklin D.
Roosevelt created the Office of
Strategic Services and the Office of
War Information.
In 1967, President Lyndon B. John-
son nominated Solicitor-General
Thurgood Marshall to become
the first Black justice on the U.S.
Supreme Court.
In 1971, The New York Times
began publishing excerpts of the
Pentagon Papers, a secret study of
America’s involvement in Vietnam
from 1945 to 1967 that had been
leaked to the paper by military
analyst Daniel Ellsberg.
In 1977, James Earl Ray, the
convicted assassin of civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr., was
recaptured following his escape
three days earlier from a Tennes-
see prison.
In 1983, the U.S. space probe Pio-
neer 10, launched in 1972, became
the first spacecraft to leave the
solar system as it crossed the orbit
of Neptune.
In 1996, the 81-day-old Freemen
standoff ended as 16 remaining
members of the anti-government
group surrendered to the FBI and
left their Montana ranch.
In 1997, a jury voted unanimously
to give Timothy McVeigh the
death penalty for his role in the
Oklahoma City bombing. The Chi-
cago Bulls captured their fifth NBA
championship in seven years with
a 90-to-86 victory over the Utah
Jazz in game six.
In 2005, a jury in Santa Maria,
California, acquitted Michael
Jackson of molesting a 13-year-old
cancer survivor at his Neverland
ranch. The Supreme Court warned
prosecutors to use care in striking
minorities from juries, siding with
Black murder defendants in Texas
and California who contended
their juries had been unfairly
stacked with whites.
Ten years ago: Facing off in New
Hampshire, Republican White
House hopefuls condemned Pres-
ident Barack Obama’s handling of
the economy from the opening
moments of their first major de-
bate of the 2011-2012 campaign
season, and pledged emphatically
to repeal his historic year-old
health care overhaul.
Five years ago: A day after
the Orlando, Florida, nightclub
shooting rampage that claimed
49 victims, Donald Trump and
Hillary Clinton offered drastically
different proposals for stemming
the threat of terrorism and gun
violence; Trump focused heavily
on the nation’s immigration sys-
tem (even though the shooter was
U.S. born) and redoubled his call
for temporarily banning Muslims
from the United States, while
Clinton said that as president she
would prioritize stopping “lone
wolf” attackers and reiterated her
call for banning assault weapons.
One year ago: Atlanta’s police
chief resigned, hours after the
fatal police shooting of Rayshard
Brooks; protests over the shooting
grew turbulent, and the Wendy’s
restaurant at the scene of the
shooting was gutted by flames.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Bob
McGrath is 89. Actor Malcolm Mc-
Dowell is 78. Former U.N. Secre-
tary-General Ban Ki-moon is 77.
Singer Dennis Locorriere is 72.
Actor Richard Thomas is 70. Actor
Jonathan Hogan is 70. Actor Stel-
lan Skarsgard is 70. Comedian Tim
Allen is 68. North Carolina Gov. Roy
Cooper is 64. Actor Ally Sheedy is
59. TV anchor Hannah Storm is 59.
Actor Lisa Vidal is 56. Singer David
Gray is 53. Singer-musician Riv-
ers Cuomo (Weezer) is 51. Actor
Steve-O is 47. Actor Ethan Embry
is 43. Actor Chris Evans is 40. Ac-
tor Sarah Schaub is 38. Actor Kat
Dennings is 35. Actor Ashley Olsen
is 35. Actor Mary-Kate Olsen is 35.
DJ/producer Gesaffelstein is 34.
— Associated Press
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