We will submit the rules for healthcare professionals on Monday
Portland, Oregon (KTVZ) – Oregon Health Department has permanent rules to maintain indoor masking requirements for schools from kindergarten to high school and vaccination requirements for school and school-based program staff on Friday. I said I would submit it to.
State health officials have emphasized that rule submissions will maintain masking protection during the current surge in Omicron. State officials are developing measures to determine when it may be safe to lift school mask rules.
Permanent rules replace temporary rules that are set to expire today and are only valid for 180 days.
Also expected to be submitted on Monday is a permanent rule that requires health care workers to wear masks and most health care workers to be fully vaccinated.
State health officials will continue to consider public comments on the proposed permanent rules, which currently continue the requirement to wear masks in public places indoors. The temporary rule will expire on February 8th.
At a press conference on Friday, state health officer and state epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger, MD, MSEd. Said that the rules are permanent, but OHA can loosen or revoke the rules in the context of pandemic changes, especially hospitalization situations.
“We need to look at the number of COVID-19-positive people in hospitals receiving care and their impact on the ability of hospitals to provide care,” he said. “What we now know is that these numbers are still increasing, but are expected to peak soon, and will decline fairly rapidly within the next week to a week and a half, and then fairly rapidly. It is expected. “
Sidelinger added that due to the low length of hospital stay and the amount of critical care required for patients, the reduction in length of stay is likely to occur earlier than during the fall 2021 delta surge.
“Therefore, we expect the number of people with COVID in the hospital to drop significantly over the next few weeks to a month and a half,” he said. Start talking about “Can we move from the requirements for masks in indoor public spaces to recommendations for specific populations or communities with high prices?”
Sidelinger also said that the actions that Oregon people take over the next few weeks are important to ensure that state hospitals are fully competent to meet the needs of all patients in need of care. .. This means getting your primary and additional vaccines, keeping your masks on indoors and in crowded outdoor spaces, keeping your meetings small, and staying home if you’re sick or test positive.
“It also extends the protective measures enacted in the early days of the pandemic, requiring masks to be worn at schools and medical settings, requiring vaccinations for school employees and health care workers, and wearing masks indoors. It means to do, “he said.
Oregon Administrative Regulations to be submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office on Friday:
- OAR 333-019-1015 – School masking requirements.
- OAR 333-019-1030 – COVID-19 vaccination requirements for teachers and school staff.
The rules to be submitted on Monday are as follows:
- OAR 333-019-1010 – COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare providers and healthcare staff in the field.
- OAR 333-019-1011 – Masking requirements for controlling COVID-19 in health care settings.
Submission of permanent rules will follow the public comment period from December 10th to January 24th. Written comments were accepted and three public hearings were held. .24 School masking and vaccination rules, and medical setting masking and vaccination rules.
Full Sidelinger comments can be found here. The briefing record is here.
