The great coronavirus mask debate: Should local governments or businesses require them? How could it be enforced?

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

It’s easy to glimpse the debate over wearing masks in public during the coronavirus pandemic. Just take a quick walk through downtown Yachats on a sunny Thursday.

The great majority of visitors – yes, we asked – walk from shop to shop and restaurant to store without face coverings.

Yachats residents – yes, we asked — seem to better understand local concerns and wear masks more often, especially when visiting a store, restaurant or Post Office.

But that is rarely the case for either visitors or locals when walking outside along any beachside road or trail, even when people approach from the other direction to get within six feet.

And this is the debate public officials in Lincoln County are increasingly having – should or can they institute a countywide requirement that everyone wear face coverings in public. And if they did, how in the heck would they enforce it?

In order to do something countywide, Lincoln County commissioners would have to get buy-in from seven cities. That’s probably not going to happen, County Counsel Wayne Belmont told commissioners this week.

The conversation has picked up steam with the massive outbreak at a Newport seafood processor this week and word that Lincoln County Public Health is monitoring employees at six more businesses for potential workplace outbreaks.

As of Thursday the county had 170 confirmed cases and it’s third hospitalization in five days.

But as testing showed at Pacific Seafood, 95 percent of the 127 workers who tested positive for COVID-19 did not show any symptoms. That means they were working and moving around without any idea they could be spreading the coronavirus.

“From a health perspective it’s the right thing to do … but I have concerns about enforcement,” said Lincoln County Commission Chair Kaety Jacobson as commissioners discussed the issue this week.

The city council in Lincoln City had the discussion, Belmont said, and seemed to favor doing something to require masks in public but “concluded enforcement would basically be impossible.” Instead, they opted for a public education campaign.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear a face covering when social distancing isn’t possible, like at a store. Dozens of states and local jurisdictions across the country – but none in Oregon — have followed with some kind of mask requirement in public places.

One of the most outspoken proponents of a mask requirement in Lincoln County is Commissioner Claire Hall, who reminded fellow commissioners and staff this week that lots of jurisdictions across the country – especially where there have been significant outbreaks — are requiring masks in public.

“The state of Oregon has abdicated its responsibility, but that doesn’t excuse us from trying to protect our residents,” she said, pointing out that many of Gov. Kate Brown’s coronavirus restrictions have no teeth. “A voluntary policy is not enough.”

Hall acknowledged that enforcement would be a big issue.

Sheriff Curtis Landers said it would be the same as trying to enforcing fireworks restrictions on July 4 – nearly impossible.

But Hall said peer pressure – she reminded commissioners of decades-old seatbelt or indoor smoking rules – could help with compliance.

“It’s not the easy thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do,” Hall said.

County sponsors big mask giveaway Saturday

The county’s health department has already started an active social media campaign to remind people the importance and effectiveness – along with social distancing and regular hand washing – of wearing face masks.

But they admit the message is getting lost as Oregonians, urged to stay near home for three months, are venturing out as summer approaches and the beach beckons.

“It’s one of those things that you have to sacrifice for to keep other people healthy,” said Nicole Fields, deputy director of the county’s health department. “It’s a simple thing you can do. You don’t want to come over for a weekend trip and take this home to grandma.”

That’s one of the reasons why the county’s emergency services division is sponsoring a massive face mask giveaway Saturday. It is setting up nine sites around the county to distribute up to 50,000 face coverings to anyone who wants some.

The county is actually getting 70,000 from the state, 10,000 of which are coming via the Siltez tribe. It is holding some back to give to police and fire departments, first responders, healthcare providers, and nursing homes, said Jenny Demaris, head of the county’s emergency management division.

“They’re coming in pallets,” Demaris said. “The goal is to provide face coverings to as many people as we can.”

The giveaway will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The location in Yachats is at the Yachats Community Presbyterian Church on West Seventh Street; in Waldport it’s at the fire station on Highway 34 downtown.

All people have to do is drive up, stay in their car, signal how many masks they need for themselves and family, and a volunteer will put them in a paper bag and had it over.

Demaris doesn’t expect to give them all away Saturday; she plans to leave hundreds more at city halls around the county for people to continue to pick up and use.

And why should people use them?

“The mask is not protecting you,” Demaris said. “It’s protecting you from spreading (the coronavirus) to someone else.”

What shop owners do

Whether to require face masks is a dilemma for business owners.

Many people object to them because they don’t want someone else, especially a government, telling them what to do. Others feel constrained by them, or don’t believe or understand their importance.

But businesses can require them, Costco’s massive warehouse stores with greeters at each entrance probably being the biggest example. Local businesses requiring them occasionally face a backlash.

Only two Yachats motels, the Overleaf Lodge and Fireside Motel, require guests to wear facemasks in their common areas. Drew Roslund, who oversees both businesses, said the requirement has been “well received by a vast majority of guests who appreciate how seriously we are taking this.”

“There have been a few guests who cancelled their reservations in advance because they did not want to wear a mask,” Roslund said in an email. “It is difficult to reject reservations being that our occupancy is less than half of what is normally is at this time of year, but we are serious about protecting our staff, guests, vendors and the community.”

He said there are no plans to drop the requirement.

The Drift Inn Restaurant and Motel and its adjacent Yachats Mercantile have signs prominently displayed on their doors asking customers to wear masks while inside the store or common areas of the restaurant.

Karen Bateman, a cashier at the Mercantile, said Thursday that the great majority of customers understand; occasionally some will walk away.

“We’re all trying to deal with this as best we can,” she said.

An employee at the Green Salmon estimated that 60 percent of customers at their takeout window aren’t wearing masks.

Alonzo Rivier, a clerk at the C&K Market who is required to wear a mask while working, admits he’s not completely sold on the effectiveness of masks. But he does it anyway.

“All of these people are my friends and neighbors, so I err on the side of caution,” Rivier said. “They can be hot and uncomfortable … but it’s not like you’re giving up an appendage.”

Mary Crook, co-owner of Books and More in the C&K shopping center, has a simple solution that works for her small shop.

Crook, who wears a mask, asks book browsers when they enter if they have a mask to wear. Usually they quickly pull one from a purse or pocket. If not, she will offer to sell one for $1.

“People really appreciate that,” she said. “Most everyone cooperates when they are asked.”