PATIENTS: Stay away from Portland

I’d like to say that as a 68-year-old Portland resident [without “underlying conditions”] I heard, with sadness and anger, of the decision by your regional health board to end any mask mandate, and likely any serious effort to promote mask use. The whole absurd, dramatic history regarding masks is now entering a stage of further deterioration, partially out of fatigue, and also actively led by such decisions as your “health” board. Which I understand has a total virus-denier as a member?

Ordinarily, I would say “Welcome to Portland!” to anyone hopping here from Idaho, for whatever reason. But Oregon just had its record high day of positives, so now I must say. Stay away, you are not welcome here… and that means primarily anyone coming to take a hospital bed or ventilator for treatment of a wound self-inflicted by selfishness, ignorance, claims of Freedom, love of Trump’s example, whatever.

The trouble is that Idaho will have innocent victims too, who tried to do the right thing to their best ability.

RICHARD RUBIN

Portland, Ore.