Big League Wellness

Oregon Governor Extends Coronavirus State of Emergency Until July

That’s two months from now.

Published

3 weeks ago

May 4, 2020

Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown announced that she is extending the state’s state of emergency declaration until the month of July, ostensibly maintaining a stay-at-home order for the next two months.

Brown is saying that she’ll have the ability to revoke the state of emergency before its planned July 6th expiration date. The original state of emergency order was enacted on March 8th, and would’ve expired on May 7th without an extension.

“Extending the state of emergency declaration allows those orders to stay in effect, however the governor can still lift her orders as the COVID-19 situation warrants,” explained the governor’s office in a press release. “Our efforts to move forward with safely reopening Oregon will be gradual, incremental, and based on science and data.”

Some restrictions are being lifted under the updated emergency order, most notably allowing hospitals to perform non-urgent medical procedures. However, rules prohibiting large gatherings and the closure of businesses will stay in place unless Brown revokes her order.

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Although the expiration date of Brown’s state of emergency order is now one of the latest in the country, Oregon’s coronavirus situation isn’t as severe as the other western states. Just over 100 people have died of the disease as of Sunday morning, whereas 830 have died in neighboring Washington.

Big League Wellness

MSNBC Medical Contributor: “We Should Make Masks Mandatory in Public”

He wants to force the public to wear masks.

Published

10 hours ago

May 25, 2020

Richard Moorhead

A MSNBC medical contributor called for the wearing of face masks to be made mandatory in the United States, claiming that anything otherwise would represent a threat to public safety.

Dr. Vin Gupta made the dramatic, authoritarian appeal on a Monday morning segment on the network. Watch here:

MSNBC’s Dr. Vin Gupta: “We should make masks mandatory in public. Just like we ban indoor smoking, because you know what? You shouldn’t have to breathe somebody else’s secondhand smoke. I shouldn’t have to breathe exhaled Covid-19 in somebody’s breath.” pic.twitter.com/9N61Pjf2uw

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 25, 2020

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“We should institute mandatory masks in public when you can’t guarantee social distancing. That means retail stores, that means public transportation, that means workplaces… That’s absolutely where we should be headed. Makes no sense why we’re not already there, people are flouting the rules…”

Gupta’s appeal to authoritarianism is almost certainly a doomed project. While many businesses and institutions have enacted rules requiring the use of a face mask to enter their property, it’s all but impossible to imagine a system where law enforcement mandates the wearing of face masks by the general public.

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine already rescinded an executive order mandating the wearing of facemasks inside businesses, stating the onerous requirement was a “bridge too far.”

A more efficient public health strategy would be to strongly encourage people to maintain social distancing practices, and wear face masks if they feel so inclined. Many Americans simply aren’t going to accept a paradigm in which we treat our neighbors as latent biothreats on an infinite, rolling basis.