Christie Neilson, a substitute teacher at La Grande High School, watches as students leave for the bell on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.

LA GRANDE — Oregonians now know how many more days they’ll be required to wear masks in indoor public spaces.

The Oregon Health Authority announced on Monday. Feb. 7, that it will end the requirement masks must be worn in public places indoors no later than March 31. This timeline also applies to mask requirements inside schools. The school mask mandate will be lifted after March 31, according to an OHA press release.

Falling COVID-19 numbers are the reason the OHA is lifting its requirements. By late March, health scientists expect that about 400 or fewer Oregonians would be hospitalized with COVID-19, the level of hospitalizations the state experienced before the omicron variant began to spread, according to the OHA. The news that the mask mandate will soon be lifted is being greeted enthusiastically by many people in Union County, including Grande Ronde Hospital officials.

“Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics is very pleased to see these positive steps forward for our community and the state. It is good news,” said Mardi Ford, GRH’s director of communications and marketing.

Ford noted that OHA’s announcement stated that the masking mandate will not be lifted for health care workers on March 31. She said the hospital’s staff is now studying the information from the OHA to determine how the revised COVID-19 safety guidelines, when they are put in place, will apply to hospital visitors. She said GRH will announce its determination later.

La Grande School District Superintendent George Mendoza, in a letter sent to parents on Feb. 8, said his school district will move toward pursuing an optional masking policy for students and staff, one that would take effect after March 31. He said the school district will work with Union County Public Health, Union County Emergency Services, Grande Ronde Hospital and school stakeholders to make final decisions.

Mendoza said he is pleased with the direction the state is moving. He said the school district has advocated for this to take place since December. He said La Grande School District representatives have met on numerous occasions with state officials, statewide superintendent groups and education advocates in Oregon to explain the district’s perspective.

“We know this change will result in increased local responsibility and we will diligently plan for the continued safety of our staff, students and families,” Mendoza said.

North Powder School District Superintendent Lance Dixon said that his school board will decide at its Feb. 22 meeting whether to continue to make mask wearing mandatory after March 31 or to make it optional.

Union County Commissioner Paul Anderes said he believes the OHA’s decision was made based on sound science.

“It looks like the right thing to do now,” he said, adding he is very happy that schools were included as part of the OHA’s decision.

No need to draw it out

Cove School District Superintendent Earl Pettit said lifting the mask requirement means the state will no longer stand out as one of the few that has a mask mandate in its schools.

“I’m happy that the mandate will be lifted,” he said. “We are in a minority because many other states do not have mandates. I’m glad that we are finally catching up to them.”

La Grande City Councilor Nicole Howard said she has confidence the OHA is making the right decision.

“If that is what the science is telling us to do, I will be happy to oblige,” she said.

Union Mayor Leonard Flint said the mask mandate hurts students.

“It is making it harder for them to interact,” he said.

Flint said this is particularly true for students who have hearing impairments, since masks make it impossible for them to read lips and read nonverbal facial cues. Flint is glad that no time is being wasted in lifting the mandate now that the omicron variant is declining.

“There is no reason to draw it out,” he said.

In the rearview mirror

La Grande City Manager Robert Strope said he is encouraged by what the state mandate represents.

“All of us are ready to put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror,” he said.

Strope said he appreciates what OHA is doing in terms of delaying the lifting of the mandate until as late as March 31.

“If keeping the mandate through March 31 saves one life, all that we are going through will be worth it,” he said.

Strope noted that in the past, mandates have been lifted when COVID-19 infection rates fell but then had to be reinstated when infection rates surged again. Strope hopes this will not happen again and said he is guardedly optimistic that it will not.

“I hope that the worst is behind us,” he said.