CDC urges 3 counties to re-start indoor masks again

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending Lane, Douglas and Jackson counties to begin masking again in light of increased cases.  The masking would apply to indoors and transportation.

KOIN-TV 6 reports, “COVID-19 community levels are rated “high” in Lane, Douglas and Jackson counties. This means these counties have had 200 or more new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the last 7 days. In Lane County, the case rate per 100,000 people is 259.38. In Douglas County, it’s 202.74 and in Jackson County, it’s 227.21. “

The report does not mention the level of hospitalizations or not — since recent variants have been milder in effect often not requiring hospital treatment.  No word either on Governor Kate Brown offering her opinion or the County Commissioners.

OPB did an excellent report on how complicated and ever-changing the virus has become as Oregon experiences this 7th wave of the virus

“With masks coming off and highly transmissible subvariants of omicron circulating, people who’ve made it through the pandemic without getting SARS-CoV-2 are suddenly getting it. People who’ve had it already are getting it again. It’s Oregon’s seventh surge…At the peak of the delta wave last summer, there were 197 COVID-19 patients on life support in Oregon. Last week, there were fewer than 10 … #1. Things are getting better.  The number of reported cases is way up, close to the peak during the delta wave last summer.But the number of deaths and hospitalizations remains comparatively low…#2. The omicron variants are super contagious. We may be approaching the limit of how much more contagious the coronavirus can get … #3. The current variants are better at reinfecting us.   One of the most intriguing aspects of the omicron subvariants is their capacity for immune evasion: the ability to reinfect people who’ve been infected with other COVID-19 variants and to cause breakthrough infections in vaccinated people …  #4. How sick you’ll get with each infection is a key unknown.  While vaccination and prior infection won’t completely protect you from COVID-19, you do retain some antibodies that can mount a response to future infections … #5. Reformulating vaccines will be tricky. The vaccine most of us have received was formulated to protect against the first COVID-19 virus we encountered. While it’s still providing protection against the worst outcomes of infection, it’s not a great fit for the omicron subvariants.”

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