Thurston County residents should wear masks in indoor public settings, health officer says
The Thurston County Health Officer is directing county residents to wear masks in public indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status. The directive, issued Thursday afternoon, went into effect Friday, Aug. 13.
Health Officer Dimyana Abdelmalek’s directive applies to everyone 5 or older. Although exempt, the directive recommends children between 2 and 4 years old wear a face covering while closely supervised by an adult, according to a county release.
Public indoor spaces include retail, grocery stores, government buildings and other businesses where people can freely enter, per the release. It does not apply to places with limited access, such as business offices.
“I strongly urge all people in Thurston County to voluntarily comply with this DIRECTIVE, and likewise direct all businesses that are open to the public … to continue implementing policies and practices to ensure that their customers and employees wear face masks in order to protect the health of their customers, workers, and the community,” Abdelmalek said in the release.
The directive remains in effect until Abdelmalek can confirm that the COVID-19 transmission rate has declined to low levels, per the release. There is no penalty for noncompliance at this time, but the health officer has the authority to issue an order that can be enforced by law, according to county spokesperson Magen Johnson.
“We believe that Thurston County residents and businesses don’t need a penalty to do the right thing.” Johnson wrote. “This is a simple, easy way in which everyone can do their part to help keep our community safe and healthy.”
This move comes after Abdelmalek signed a joint statement with health officers from all 35 local health jurisdictions in Washington state, recommending all residents wear face covering in indoor public settings.
Thurston County’s COVID-19 transmission rates have increased in recent weeks. State data indicates the county had a case rate of 272.5 per 100,000 people from July 21 to Aug. 3.
Meanwhile, 13.4% of COVID-19 molecular tests returned positive results between July 28 and Aug. 3, according to state data.
“Because our transmission levels are so high and we have a more contagious variant of COVID-19 circulating right now, we are asking everyone to mask up again in order to protect themselves and others, especially our children who haven’t had the opportunity to be vaccinated yet and are headed back to school soon,” Johnson wrote.
State data show just 50.2% of Thurston County residents had been fully vaccinated as of Monday.
“This measure 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 Thurston County, and decrease the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant,” the release says.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 2:11 PM.
