By GARY WARNER

Oregon Capital Bureau

SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday, Aug. 11, ordered face masks worn indoors in public places by everyone age 5 and over beginning Friday.

At a Wednesday morning press call, Brown said the highly contagious delta variant was pushing the virus spread to the point that each infected person was infecting eight others.

“Moving forward, for the immediate future, masks will be required for all indoor public settings,” Brown said.

The mandate applies to adults and children older than 5. On public transit, also includes children older than 2.

Brown also urged, but did not mandate, wearing masks in crowded outdoor situations. She also urged private companies and other organizations to enact their own indoor mask policies.

Brown’s order came the day after the Oregon Health & Sciences University’s infectious disease experts forecast the state could see over 1,000 COVID-19 patients per day in hospitals by early next month. Oregon would be about 500 staffed beds short of needs for all patients if the rate hit its projected peak of Sept. 7.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state epidemiologist, said this “fifth wave” of COVID-19 to hit the state in the past 18 months was different than earlier spikes.

More than half the population is vaccinated, but the “relentless” delta variant was spreading rapidly through the estimated 1.2 million Oregon residents who are not inoculated. That group includes children under 12 for whom there is no federally approved vaccine as yet.

OHA has reported patients arriving at hospitals are younger, sicker, require more care and stay longer.

“The COVID-19 situation is dire,” Sidelinger said, with the delta variant “far outpacing even the grim scenarios in our latest reported projections.”

Oregon will become the third state, along with Hawaii and Louisiana, with a statewide mask mandate.

Wednesday’s action was a policy U-turn for Brown and the Oregon Health Authority, who had relinquished decisions on COVID-19 restrictions to county supervisors as of June 30.

With the delta variant rapidly filling hospitals to capacity across the state, Brown urged counties to require masks indoors in public spaces. Only Multnomah County, which includes Portland, did so.

Multnomah County’s infection rate was reported at 5.3% in the latest OHA weekly report. That is nearly half the state average of 9.5%, which is twice the maximum 5% that epidemiologists says will keep spread of the virus under control.

Counties with high infection rates, low vaccination numbers and swamped health care centers were not budging, despite calls from the governor and OHA about the critical hospital situation in their areas.

”I expected local elected officials to step up and do the right thing,” Brown said. “What is clear they are not taking action. That is why we are moving forward.”

OHA and OHSU officials have pointed to several counties where no action was taking place despite having infection rates double the state average of 9.5%. The state percentage is already twice the OHA target of no more than 5% that epidemiologists say is the highest rates at which growth of the virus can be kept under control.

Statistics show the highest rates concentrated in two areas: Umatilla, Baker, Union, Malheur, and Wallowa counties in eastern Oregon, and Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, and Curry counties in southwestern Oregon. Crook County in central Oregon also has twice the state rate.

Nearly all are in areas that have been resistant to masking mandates and other restrictions throughout the pandemic.

Vaccination rates were low in part because of what Allen during testimony this spring before the Legislature called “vaccine belligerence” by activists and some officials

Though Brown had ceded daily control to the counties, her emergency order dating back to March 2020 and renewed by her several times since, allowed the state to take back control at any point.

No ban on county fairs, the Pendleton Round-Up, the Oregon State Fair in Marion County, Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers and other college football games, concerts or other major events in Oregon was in the works “at this time,” Brown said.

The Pendleton Round-Up, the major event of the year in the area, held in mid-September, had been cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic. Amid months of declining infection rates, Brown earlier this summer said “Let ‘er buck,” a popular saying of fans of the event, which draws more than 50,000 to the region.

With the delta variant hitting Umatilla County especially hard, the pandemic was once again raising questions about large scale events.

In an Aug. 10 newsletter for local officials, Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock said that the rising infection levels and low county vaccination levels were not going without notice in Salem.

” Putting an event in jeopardy that means $60 million to the local economy is dangerous particularly knowing that for some of our businesses, it could be the final nail in their coffin,” Murdock wrote. “In the coming weeks, we need to dramatically increase our vaccination rates to demonstrate we are serious and that we care.”

The most recent spike in eastern Oregon was pushed higher by the WhiskeyFest, an outdoor concert last month that attracted over 12,000 people in Pendleton. But state officials did not step in to block the Umatilla County Fair this week or similar events in high-infection areas.

Brown on Tuesday ordered all state executive branch employees will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 18.

”Delta is a different virus — it has changed everything,” Brown said.

The mask rules will go into effect Friday. The state will not immediately enforce the rules as people and businesses make the change.

But the order does not have a target end point as the delta variant’s impact is still being gauged by state officials.

OHSU officials on Tuesday said the peak of the current wave is expected around Sept. 7, with its effects continuing at least into the late autumn.

Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen said the state would be sending nurse crisis teams to areas where the medical workforce is “overwhelmed and overtaxed” by the non-stop flow of new patients.

OHA will work to free up more hospital space in other health care facilities that could be used for recovery after the most acute phase of the infection recedes.

Cases spike locally

Nearly 130 Baker County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two weeks with 68 the first week and 62 the next.

Continuing this pattern, this week has begun with one of the bigger spikes known to date.

The Baker County Health Department has announced that, since the middle of Wednesday, Baker County now lies at 57 confirmed cases.

“The week of the 25th of July we had 68, last week starting Aug. 1 through the 7th we had 62, to date right now we have 57,” Baker County Health Department Director Nancy Staten said.

With these updated numbers, and with the numbers provided from the Oregon Health Authority website, that concludes the total of confirmed cases in Baker County to be 1,275 accumulated cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Now that the delta variant has become more prevalent in the pandemic, many wonder how many confirmed cases are those that are fully vaccinated.

As of Aug. 10, Baker County currently has over 47% of its residents fully vaccinated, according to OHA.

Though they don’t differentiate who has and who has not been vaccinated out of their confirmed cases, Staten says that the OHA just this past Thursday published the newest number of breakthrough cases for every county.

“They (OHA) posted on the 5th of August that Baker had 15,” Staten said.

As this new mutation of the COVID-19 virus has begun to spike the number of confirmed cases, Staten acknowledges that newer symptoms have begun to show compared to six to eight months ago, but that too also depends on the person.

“We are seeing symptoms that are different. They are more pronounced, but it’s a case-by-case basis,” Staten said. “Some may have fewer symptoms than others, and it’s hard to predict, so it depends on the people, but we are seeing some that are fairly ill.”

As Governor Kate Brown has made the announcement Wednesday afternoon that the state of Oregon is going to be enforcing an indoor mask mandate this Friday, August 13th, Staten sees this as an opportunity. Through going through the proper channels to get a vaccine and to wear a mask to protect all those that are around them.

“We wear our masks to protect the people around us. We know there is some benefit for ourselves wearing a mask, but if there are people that are sick, maybe they don’t have any symptoms yet, that will protect the people around them, wearing a mask. I do believe that masks and vaccinations are one way that can control this pandemic and this surge we are seeing right now,” Staten said.

Staten wants Baker County residents to know that if they are still considering getting vaccinated, they have access to get an appointment today.

“I think there are options; there are medical clinics here in Baker County as well as the health department, our pharmacies do have that. If they are debating on whether to do it, we do know that even fully vaccinating will keep them out of the hospital and out of the intensive care unit. It’s not going to wait, it’s in our community and we need to do everything we can to protect those people that we are around and those people we love and care for,” Staten said.

Corey Kirk and Samantha O’Conner of the Baker City Herald contributed to this report.