The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

The Oregon Health Authority announced Tuesday, July 27 (after the New Era’s press time this week), that masks are once again required indoors, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.

Gov. Kate Brown had relaxed most state restrictions on June 30, but rising concerns about the highly contagious delta variant — which health officials say is now responsible for 80% of new Oregon cases — helped push the resumed recommendation, in addition to OHA's Wednesday, July 28, statistic of 804 new confirmed and presumptive cases as well as six deaths over the past week.

As of Wednesday, Linn County still ranked in the “high level” of community COVID-19 transmission, with 38 newly reported cases. Some 6,202 cases and 81 deaths have been recorded since February 2020. (Sweet Home saw 560 of those cases in that 17-month span.) Roughly 56,000 county residents, or 46.8% of its population, are fully vaccinated. Statewide, Oregon has recorded 217,690 total cases and 2,849 deaths, according to the OHA, with a 55.8% fully vaccinated rate. The United States has amassed 34.6 million cases and 611,000 total deaths.