Governor Kate Brown enacted a law this week which now requires Oregonians wear masks indoors, when they are within six feet of non-family members.
As of July 3rd, 2020, the Governors mask mandate requires people living or working in Oregon to wear a mask if they plan on using public transportation, are going to a grocery store, retail store, restaurant or gym.
Governors Mask Order Is Not As Stringent As Other States
The Governor’s mandate is different than other states because some states because she only wants Oregon residents to wear masks indoors while other states including Washington, California, Texas and Kansas are requiring their residents to wear masks at all times.
With most states now moving to requiring people to wear masks in both indoor and outdoor spaces to slow Coronavirus, it possibly only a matter of time until Governor Brown joins the long list of states in requiring people to be masked regardless if they are indoors or outside.
Not Eager To Close Down Businesses Again
When The State of Oregon began reopening, Governor Brown and other lawmakers hoped that most people would do the right thing and start wearing a mask. Sadly, the rising infection rate in Oregon proves that Oregonians are not doing enough to slow the spread of Coronavirus so the Governor’s new mask mandate makes sense.
Echoing the feeling of most people across the state, Governor Brown aid that she was not eager to close down businesses again like other states have so there is a hope that her new mask mandate will motivate people to work harder at slowing Coronavirus so that Oregon doesn’t have to start closing businesses again.
How Will Oregon’s Mask Mandate Be Enforced?
If you’ve been following the news regarding the mask requirement in various states, you may be wondering how Governor Brown will enforce her mask mandate since states like California and Florida are fining people who are caught not wearing masks.
Right now, it would seem that the Governor is leaving enforcement up to businesses in local communities since most stores like Walmart and Costco now require their customers to wear masks in their stores but nothing has been mentioned yet about fines or other penalties that Oregonians could face if caught not wearing masks indoors.
As summer 2020 is still just getting started, we’re hopeful that more people will do the right thing and voluntarily wear masks so that Oregon won’t face the same fate as other states with businesses being closed down and jobs lost again.
