Oregon is again accelerating the date to end mask requirements in K-12 schools and indoor public spaces, moving the new timeline to March 12, a week ahead of the previous schedule.

Gov. Kate Brown on Monday announced the current mask requirements will expire at 11:59 p.m. March 11, citing decreasing cases, hospitalizations and a strategic alignment with Washington and California as the reasons for speeding up the timeline.

Brown announced Oregon’s accelerated timeline Monday on the two-year anniversary of the state’s first known COVID-19 infection, saying residents must “learn to live with the virus” while maintaining vigilance going forward.

“As has been made clear time and again over the last two years, COVID-19 does not stop at state borders or county lines,” Brown said in a written statement. “On the West Coast, our communities and economies are linked. Together, as we continue to recover from the Omicron surge, we will build resiliency and prepare for the next variant and the next pandemic.”

Oregon officials earlier this month announced mask mandates would lift no later than March 31 but indicated requirements for public places could end sooner if hospitalizations plummeted more quickly. State officials shifted that timeline again last week, moving the date for both schools and public places to March 19.

But Brown and state health officials pivoted again Monday to align with neighboring states.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee originally set the date for school and indoor mandates to end as March 21, but now will sunset both requirements at the end of the day March 11, according to a news release. Gov. Gavin Newsom already lifted California’s indoor mandate for fully vaccinated people Feb. 15, but he has continued to require masks for unvaccinated people and hadn’t previously set a firm date for ending mask requirements in schools. Monday, Newsom announced unvaccinated people will no longer be required to wear masks in indoor public spaces starting Tuesday and the K-12 school mandate will end after March 11.

When the three states remove their indoor and school mandates, they will be among the very last to do so. Delaware will end its schools mandate Tuesday, followed by New York on Wednesday. Hawaii is the only state not to announce when its school or indoor mandates will cease.

Although Oregon is lifting statewide mask mandates, local county governments and school district boards still have the option to continue requiring masks after March 11. Masks will no longer be required on school buses, unless a local district or health agency decides otherwise, state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said Monday.

So far schools in the Portland metro area have not indicated that masks will be required. At least five districts — Tigard-Tualatin, Hillsboro, North Clackamas, West Linn-Wilsonville and Forest Grove — have indicated that masking will be voluntary. Decisions have not yet been announced for Portland, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Gresham-Barlow or David Douglas.

Asked if there’s a risk of entire classrooms having to quarantine after the lifting of the mask mandate, Department of Education Director Colt Gill said schools now have an abundance of tests available, as well as new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on contact tracing and quarantining. His department will release new state guidance for schools Wednesday.

“What we’re really talking about here is a shift in responsibility for making sure that our communities are safe,” Gill said in a news conference Monday.

Individual businesses, employers and other organizations in Oregon similarly have the option of requiring masks after March 11.

Last week, Sidelinger said when the state lifts its mask requirements, he still recommends people at higher risk of severe complications of COVID-19 wear masks. That includes Oregonians who are unvaccinated or are immunocompromised, have health conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, people who are 65 years or older or Oregonians who share a household with higher risk residents.

Health care settings such as hospitals and nursing homes will continue to require masks after March 11, Sidelinger said, at least until cases decline further.

“This is where some of the most vulnerable members of our Oregon community seek care,” Sidelinger said during a news conference Monday. “It’s also where people with COVID-19 often go to seek care.”

The federal government will require people to cover up on public transportation, including transit systems such as TriMet and airplanes and airports. That federal requirement will expire March 18, but President Biden has the option of extending it.

Oregon originally ended its mask mandate last summer but quickly restored it as cases spiked during the delta surge. State officials maintained the requirement during the omicron wave, but cases and hospitalizations are now a fraction of earlier highs.

Oregon on Feb. 7 announced that it would tie the end of the state’s indoor mask mandate to the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The state said when the number dropped to 400 patients – a manageable number that wouldn’t overwhelm the health care system – it would consider eliminating the mandate on indoor public spaces. At the time, the state estimated that date to be around the end of March.

Now, it looks like that goal could be reached sometime in the first week of March. As of Monday, 479 patients who tested positive for the coronavirus were being treated in hospitals across the state. That’s less than half the 1,130 patients at the peak of the omicron surge, on Jan. 27.

With the current trajectory, hospitalizations could fall to below pre-omicron levels by next week, Sidelinger said.

Meanwhile, the CDC on Friday put out long-awaited revised guidelines for when Americans should don masks. The CDC says people in areas with “low” COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations can forgo masks. But people at high risk of serious illness in “medium” areas should consult a health care professional about how they should proceed. People in “high” areas should wear masks indoors when with people they don’t live with, and that includes in schools.

As of late last week, the CDC categorized all of the Portland metro area and Marion County as “medium.” Much of the central and southern part of the state – including Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson and Lane counties – were “high.” So was Lane County.

To see more data and trends, visit https://projects.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/

— Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee