WA county health leaders unite on indoor masking recommendation amid COVID-19 surge
As the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to fuel alarming numbers of new cases in Washington state, health officials representing all 35 local health jurisdictions in the state issued a joint statement calling for everyone older than 2 to keep masks on in public spaces.
“We recommend all residents wear facial coverings when in indoor public settings where the vaccination status of those around you is unknown,” the health officials said in the statement. “This step will help reduce the risk of COVID-19 to the public, including customers and workers, help stem the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in many parts of the state and decrease the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.”
A group of eight county health leaders, which included King County’s and Pierce County’s health department leaders, offered similar indoor mask advice via a joint statement on July 26.
Thursday’s recommendation, endorsed by officials including Dr. Anthony Chen, director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, comes after the state on Monday mandated COVID vaccines for most health care workers and state workers, except for medical or religious exemptions.
The action came one day before residents in the neighboring state of Oregon face a mandated return to masks in indoor spaces.
On Monday as part of the vaccine mandate announcement, Gov. Jay Inslee acknowledged that while the state was not requiring individuals to wear masks indoors, it did recommend it, as Thursday’s joint statement reflected.
“People need to understand this is a wily beast we’re fighting. And I can tell you if these trends continue, we will have to take further actions of one dimension or another to restrain this pandemic,” Inslee said Monday.
“Masks add another layer of protection if you’re vaccinated,” said the accompanying FAQ posted on the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department website. “And if you’re not, they help prevent you from spreading COVID-19 to others.”
The health department made clear that Thursday’s announcement was not a new mandate but rather its latest public health recommendation. Businesses still are required to follow statewide mask requirements and require unvaccinated to be masked in indoor public spaces.
“Businesses should ask people to mask up indoors to help protect staff and customers,” the FAQ stated.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 12:22 PM.
