After telling us everything would return to normal after enough people got vaccines, and after telling us the vaccines are effective, Multnomah County chair Deborah Kafoury has announced a new mask mandate which takes effect this Friday, August 13th.
Via executive order, Kafoury is mandating that everyone ages 5 and older wear a mask while inside public buildings. Joined by doctors from OHSU and other area hospitals, as well as Portland Public Schools superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero, Kafoury and her sycophants made the announcement during a public Zoom meeting Monday afternoon, reading carefully prepared statements.
To the surprise of no one, none of these officials were wearing masks, and some of them appear to be Zooming in from work locations, particularly the doctors. You can clearly see office-type settings in the background. These include OHSU Dr. Renee Edwards, Kaiser Permanente Dr. Mary Giswold, and Guerrero.
Multnomah County is reinstating a mandatory mask mandate for indoor public settings starting Friday.
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury announced the executive order for everyone 5 and older in indoor public settings regardless of vaccination.
The new requirement starts Aug. 13, and according to Kafoury, “it will be enforced.” People could face fines of up to $1,000 but Kafoury said they will start with education before fines.
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero also spoke at the press conference, expressing support for the new mandate. He said it helps protect students, who will also be required to wear masks at school.
Multnomah County Health Officer Jennifer Vines said the delta variant is to blame for the new requirement.
“A vaccinated person may still get a mild infection, and may still be contagious, which is why we’re asking everyone to wear a mask indoors,” Vines said.
Last week the state announced a massive uptick in so-called breakthrough cases, where Covid is still able to infect people who have received the vaccines. 20% of the latest cases are attributed to vaccinated individuals.
Meanwhile, Oregon Governor Kate Brown is hesitating to issue statewide mandates, admitting it’s now a political issue, rather than a health issue, by claiming the “political will” is not there to institute another round of lockdowns and mask requirements.
Guerrero has been the subject of a few other Gateway Pundit articles. Under his watch, the school district has given out social justice planning guides to students that praise Che Guevara and Black Panthers, has mandated that school officials help “undocumented students” evade I.C.E. agents, and several teachers have been caught up in a variety of scandals, including sex scandals.
Kafoury is pondering a run for Governor. Because apparently people aren’t content with limiting mass homelessness, rising crime, record shootings, record homicides, dilapidated roads, high taxes, and skyrocketing housing costs to just the Portland area, and prefer the whole state end up like that.