Gov. Inslee forbids businesses to serve those without masks
Businesses across the state won’t be allowed to serve customers who aren’t wearing a facial covering starting Tuesday, July 7, Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday.
He also announced a two-week pause on counties advancing phases under the state’s Safe Start plan, and said businesses can’t serve customers at their bar tops.
“We know that we need to mask up so that we can fully open up our economy,” Inslee said at a virtual press conference, while wearing a mask.
Businesses in Yakima are already prohibited from serving customers if those customers aren’t wearing a mask. Inslee’s statewide order aimed at businesses builds on a public health order from Secretary of Health John Wiesman last week that made masks mandatory statewide for people in indoor or outdoor public places, with some exceptions.
“This is not an optional plan for businesses,” the governor said. “This is a legal requirement.”
Asked by a reporter about enforcement, Inslee said he expects voluntary compliance.
Businesses that don’t comply could face measures such as fines and potential closure, “but we don’t want to use those systems and should not have to,” the governor said.
He said people who have a medical condition that makes wearing a mask difficult don’t have to specify what that condition is. They just need to tell the business that a medical condition exempts them.
In announcing that bar service is being removed from the list of activities allowed in Phase 3 of the Safe Start plan, the governor said: “We just can’t have folks mingling shoulder to shoulder. It’s way too dangerous.”
He noted that some states have had to close their recently reopened restaurants, which he said he hopes to avoid.
The virus has spiked in recent weeks, which the governor said is not a result of increased testing. He said it’s because people are interacting more.
“It means the pandemic is growing, not slowing in our state,” he said. “If we are going to interact with one another, we simply have to do it in a way that reduces the transmission of this disease.”
The governor said a mask is a simple, almost universally available tool that works and can help save lives.
“It’s just a piece of cloth,” he said. “... it is a signal that we care about the community. We care about our loved ones. We care about the people we’re doing business with.”
He noted that there’s increasing bipartisan support when it comes to face coverings, and he showed photos of Vice President Mike Pence, Congressman Dan Newhouse, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with masks.
“Even the president yesterday said: ‘I am all for masks,’” the governor said.
The governor also addressed questions about a possible special session of the Legislature to address budget issues.
“The reason there isn’t a necessity for a special session is right now we do have adequate resources,” he said. “We have already tightened our belt and are in a position to be able to last until January.”
He also said: “We hope that Congress will come through. That will be an added degree of assistance.”
Benton County Commissioner Jerome Delvin, Yakima Mayor Patricia Byers and Secretary of Health Wiesman joined Inslee on the call.
The governor also announced that the state Department of Health will work with remaining Phase 1 counties — Benton, Franklin and Yakima — to move to a modified Phase 1 in an effort to keep people closer to home.
“We think allowing a small amount of additional activity that occurs locally under stringent safety precautions” will “reduce the number of infections that occur from people crossing county lines,” Inslee said.
Wiesman cautioned ahead of the holiday weekend that it’s not the time for barbecues, neighborhood get-togethers, birthday parties or other big gatherings.
“We have a challenging road ahead of us with this virus,” he said.
He asked people to continue keeping their circle of contacts small, and to wear face coverings.
Asked by a reporter about the reason for the increase in cases, Wiesman said he thinks “people are expanding their circle of folks that they’re having close contact with to larger than what we’re recommending. ... We have to remain vigilant.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
