Cities in Washington County add enhanced mask policies for unvaccinated employees
By FOX 12 STAFF
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BEAVERTON, OR (KPTV) — As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, local officials are trying different tactics to stop the spread of the virus.
In some cities in Washington County, new masking policies are aimed at doing just that.
These enhanced masking policies apply to Beaverton city employees who are unvaccinated or those in which a mask like this isn’t going to work. The new policy gives them three options to choose from starting next Friday:
Use an N-95 mask or KN-95 mask that will be provided by the city as long as they have supplies. Double Mask Use a mask brace or fitter to improve the fit and filtration. Those who are vaccinated have to follow the regular mask mandate in effect across Oregon.
Beaverton isn’t the first city to do this.
On Saturday, Hillsboro also put an enhanced masking rule in effect, which says their city employees must use a KN-95 respirator provided by the city.
The city of Beaverton says it wants to support employees, regardless of their vaccination status, and an enhanced mask policy is the best way to do that.
As for how long this will be in effect, the city says it could be a while.
“I would suspect that we would be in this through at least January, and then, of course, we’d have to continually revisit numbers in consultation with the county. Of course, the state and then Oregon Health Authority and whatnot,” Jenny Haruyama, Beaverton City Manager, said. “So, I think through the holidays, we’re going to take as many precautions as we can, and then we’ll take a look at the new year and see where we’re at.”
The league of Oregon cities says that Tigard will soon adopt a similar policy.
And while some cities consider vaccine requirements for city employees, Beaverton says it doesn’t have any policy like that in the works right now.
The league of Oregon cities says it is sharing this policy with all 241 member cities as a practice to follow.
It is not an alternative to a vaccine and still encourages all city employees to get vaccinated.
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