Governor Kate Brown announced Wednesday, July 22nd, that in light of the continued spread of COVID-19 in Oregon, including a troubling rise in cases of community spread that cannot be traced and contained, new statewide health and safety measures, including new requirements for face coverings and businesses will be put in place effective Friday, July 24th.
Unless the spread of COVID-19 begins to slow, the Governor made clear that additional restrictions would be necessary.
“Oregon, we ventured out onto the ice together and that ice has begun to crack. Before we fall through the ice, we need to take steps to protect ourselves and our community,” said Governor Kate Brown. “So it’s time for further actions to slow the spread of this disease.
Keep in mind, this is not an on or off switch. This disease is something that, for the time being, we must live with. However, when we see numbers rise, we must respond in turn. We must dim the lights. We must scale back, limit our interactions, take more precautions.”
Beginning July 24th, new requirements will be in place including face coverings required for all Oregonians ages five and up in indoor public spaces and outdoors when six feet of distance cannot be maintained. Facemasks will also be required in cases of physical exertion indoors, and outdoors when six feet of distance cannot be maintained.
Also beginning July 24th, Businesses will have the maximum indoor capacity limit capped at 100 for all venues in Phase II counties and for restaurants and bars in Phase I or II counties. Restaurants and bars will be required to stop serving customers at 10:00pm statewide.
