PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – With COVID cases still climbing across the state, Oregon school districts are starting to look at whether to require or just recommend masks this fall.
Meanwhile, COVID vaccine clinics are still underway in many communities, such as the Virginia Garcia Clinic, which is sponsoring a COVID vaccine clinic Friday until 6 p.m. The clinic has had steady traffic from little ones to seniors.
While the clinic is focused on the Latinx community, anyone is welcome as there’s still a push to get people vaccinated from first-time shots to boosters.
Oregon has about 10,000 new COVID cases reported each week, with the actual number likely about three times that as some do not report results from at-home tests.
According to health experts, it’s the highly contagious variants spreading as just over 450 people in Oregon are hospitalized with COVID.
As Portland students return to school at the end of August, and others after Labor Day, schools are discussing potential mask rules if counties remain in the high-risk category.
So far, no decisions have been made and the state is leaving it up to individual school districts for now.