EDITORIAL: OHA mask decision is sensible

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, February 9, 2022

It appears that we have more to look forward to this spring than buttercups brightening the forests and sagelands, and the first day when it’s comfortable to stroll outdoors in short sleeves.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced on Monday, Feb. 7, that the state’s indoor mask mandate for public places will end no later than March 31. The mask requirement for schools will end on that day. And although the mask mandate for public transportation, including school buses, is determined by the federal government, the current requirement extends only through March 18.

The OHA timeline strikes a sensible balance.

The data clearly show that the record-setting surge in COVID-19 cases resulting from the omicron variant has peaked. Statewide, new cases dropped by about 40% over the past week, and by about 30% in Baker County. The number of people being treated in hospitals for COVID-19, once forecast to eclipse by a large margin the record set during the delta variant surge in early September 2021, has stayed below that level and is also declining, albeit at a slower rate than case totals.

The indoor mask mandate, not including schools, could end before March 31 if the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients dips to around 400 (the number was 1,072 on Monday, Feb. 7).

Extending the mask requirement for schools through March 31, rather than ending it immediately and leaving each school district to decide its policy, is reasonable. Masks, and in particular cloth types, offer limited protection, to be sure. But it strains credulity to think that strong compliance with the mask requirement, along with frequent sanitation and other precautions, hasn’t contributed to most districts, including Baker, being able to maintain in-person classes throughout the omicron surge. Baker Superintendent Mark Witty has credited masks with helping schools stay open. A premature end to the mask requirement would hardly be welcome if it resulted in a spike in infections that closed schools or led to cancellations of sports and other extracurricular activities. Our students, who have borne a greater burden than many adults during the pandemic, and done so without resorting to hysteria or hyperbole, deserve better.

Conversely, there seems to be no legitimate reason to continue the mask mandate once the omicron surge is not only waning but effectively over, as appears likely by the end of March, if not sooner.

The OHA’s announcement is a refreshing example of state officials recognizing how significantly the situation has changed, and for the better, during the pandemic.

The combination of vaccinations and protection through natural infection denies the virus the ready supply of susceptible people it had before. To ignore that even unvaccinated residents who have contracted COVID-19 have a significant level of immunity is to ignore science, and would serve only to inflame the unfortunate animosity that has marked the past two years. Although omicron is more likely than previous variants to, in effect, evade the protection afforded by vaccination, the vaccines continue to greatly reduce the chances that you’ll get seriously ill or die. Critics who cite the rate of breakthrough cases as proof that vaccines “don’t work” are engaging in unscientific hyperbole. A majority of people who contract omicron, and who end up in the hospital or the morgue as a result, are unvaccinated.

When it comes to masks in schools, we know that COVID-19 poses a dramatically lower risk of causing serious illness in children. And although they can of course contract and spread the virus, the much higher vaccination rates among older, more vulnerable people, both statewide and in Baker County, create a formidable level of protection for them. Maintaining that barrier for that group will likely become the focus for public health efforts in the future as we adjust to COVID-19 as being something less than a crisis.

The OHA announcement doesn’t mean masks will disappear starting April 1. Businesses and other venues could decide to continue to require masks. We should respect business owners who choose to do so.

— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor