PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Masks will no longer be required at the Portland International Airport as of Monday afternoon.
In a statement to KOIN 6 News, a Port of Portland spokesperson confirmed the changes after local Transportation Security Administration officials advised they would no longer enforce required face-covering directives at PDX — making them optional — following the decision by a federal judge in Florida to nix the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent’s federal transportation mask mandate for travel.
“We recognize that travelers and airport employees will have mixed feelings about this sudden change. We ask that people be kind and respectful of a person’s individual decision to wear a mask or not,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
However, the Biden administration is encouraging people who are traveling to still wear masks on public transit.
The federal judge’s ruling, which voided the CDC’s mandate, came days after the public health agency extended the mask mandate to May 3 amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.