There’s no rush to end WA’s indoor mask mandate. Stop putting politics over public health
On Wednesday Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced the imminent end of the state’s outdoor mask mandate. As of Feb. 18, Washingtonians will no longer be required to wear them outdoors, around large groups of people.
What Inslee didn’t announce was an end to Washington’s indoor mask mandate, which essentially dates back to June 2020. Since case counts are declining and other states — including New York, California and Oregon — have already declared plans to drop their own mask mandates, Inslee’s announcement predictably left some rankled, critical of what they describe as yet another overreach by a power-hungry governor.
As Republican state Sen. John Braun put it in a statement released shortly after Inslee’s press conference: “Our rate of decline in cases is better than Oregon’s, but they and California both announced dates for the end to their mask mandates.”
“I don’t know if (Inslee) is indifferent or just unprepared,” Braun’s statement continued. “The people of Washington deserve more.”
Braun is right about one thing: the people of Washington do deserve more — from leaders like him.
Barring another alarming COVID variant or surge, an end to Washington’s indoor mask mandate is clearly coming soon. It’s only a matter of time, which is something Inslee and others readily acknowledged on Wednesday.
Until then, what we’re hearing from leaders like Braun is more of the same: politics over public health. We’re all tired of wearing a mask when we go to the grocery store, make a trip to the shopping mall or send our kids to school. But after two years — and thousands of Washington COVID-19 deaths, including 31 in Pierce County between Jan. 30 and Feb. 5 — a few more weeks won’t hurt anyone.
What will hurt people is declaring we’ve reached a perceived finish line that hasn’t yet arrived — even it it earns cheers of support from constituents.
Clearly, one of the problems here is how much unchecked power Inslee currently enjoys. The governor has made decisions throughout the course of the pandemic that he doubtless believes were in the best interest of the state, and consulted with qualified experts to make those calls. But the fact that mask mandates and other COVID-related declarations have started and stopped with him for two years adds fuel to the idea that the rules are arbitrary. It can feel like we’re living in accordance with one man’s whims and not “the science” — as we’ve so often been told. Agree with Inslee or not, that’s one reason why the Washington legislature would be wise to finally claw back some power. If nothing else, it would add legitimacy to the difficult decisions that need to be made.
Still, when it comes to masks — and whether or not it’s time to drop the statewide mandate — you don’t have to look far to find local health-care professionals who agree with the measured approach Inslee is taking. As The New York Times reported earlier this week, when to drop mask mandates is something the experts are still grappling with.
“I think it’s too early to even talk about that idea, personally,” said Dr. Kunal Joshi, hospitalist with Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, during a statewide briefing from hospital representatives this week.
“Just because we’ve seen maybe, you know, seven to 10 days of downward decline, we get excited, because, you know, we want our lives back, I get that,” Joshi added.
He’s right. We all want life to return to normal — or some semblance of it. It’s been a long two years, and we’re all itching to turn the page — liberals and conservatives alike.
The good news for all of us? That day will soon come. It’s right around the corner.
Until then, there’s simply no legitimate rush, no matter how much those who feel oppressed by having to do something as simple as wearing a mask for the common good might suggest.
