Despite widened relaxation on protective-mask guidelines, restrictions remain firmly in place for at least one facet of everyday life: public transportation.
On June 30, Gov. Kate Brown ended many of the Oregon’s COVID-19 regulations. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still requires masks for anyone traveling by bus, train, or other means due to the continued risk of contraction within close quarters.
(The order has been in effect since January 21, with the Transportation Security Administration then implementing it through a security directive. The TSA has since extended this rule through Sept. 13.)
“Staying 6 feet away from others is often difficult on public transportation conveyances,” the CDC reported. “Wearing masks that completely cover the mouth and nose reduces the spread of COVID-19.”
Late last week, Senior Citizens of Sweet Home, Inc./Linn Shuttle, which provides transport between Albany, Lebanon and Sweet Home, distributed notices to passengers reminding them of the order.
“The FTA [Federal Transit Administration] mandates that masks are required on buses, planes and trains — regardless of vaccination status,” it read. “So please have your mask before you board.”
“People didn’t have their masks,” said the notice’s author, Dawn Mitchell, executive director of operations for SCOSHH/Linn Shuttle.
“Gov. Brown opened up the state, but this does not apply to transportation. We want to get people where they need to go, safely. We want to keep our riders and drivers safe.”
Face coverings are also mandatory on buses operated by the Corvallis and Albany transit systems, all of which have remained fareless during the pandemic. (Linn Shuttle rides cost $1 per one-way trip.)
According to the Oregon Health Authority, 43 new coronavirus cases have been reported in Linn County as of July 22, with an average of 20 per week. About 50% of these, the agency estimated, came from the highly infectious delta variant.
There have been 6,072 cumulative cases and 81 deaths in the county since the first documented Oregon incident in February 2020. (OHA data indicates that Sweet Home has seen 544 cases in that 17-month span.) Some 56,000 residents — 45.79% of the county’s population — are fully vaccinated.
More than 200,000 cases and 2,800 deaths have been recorded statewide.
– The New Era