Inslee sticking with March 21 for lifting COVID mask requirements — for now

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is reviewing new guidance by the Centers for Disease Control that lifts recommendations for a majority of U.S. residents to wear masks in many indoor places, he said Friday.

But March 21 remains the date, at least for now, that mask requirements will be eased in the state of Washington, he said.

“We’ll have more to say next week,” he added in a brief announcement to news media late Friday afternoon.

About 70% of people in the nation live in counties where the CDC now is comfortable with most people not wearing masks in many public settings based on its assessment of hospital capacity, according to The Associated Press.

The rates of COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin counties were already low enough under the CDC’s previous long-standing guidance that the CDC was not recommending masks, unless people had symptoms, a positive test or exposure to someone with COVID-19.

Previous recommendations were based on rates of new COVID-19 cases in each county.

The new case rate for COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area is dropping dramatically, with the rate on Friday just half of what it was a week ago.

But Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a visit to the Tri-Cities on Tuesday that he had no plans then to ease requirements for wearing masks indoors before his previously announced date of March 21.

New case rates across the state are still not as low as he would like, he said then.

“It still is a deadly disease,” Inslee said. “It still is making our hospitals very jammed.”

The Benton Franklin Health District announced 17 more recent deaths due to COVID-19 Friday in the Tri-Cities area, although the percentage of hospital patients with COVID-19 in the two counties has dropped to 5%.

Inslee said he had relatives who spent a couple nights on gurneys in a hospital emergency department the week before his visit to the Tri-Cities.

Inslee had previously announced that starting March 21 face masks will no longer be required statewide in schools, stores, restaurants, bars and fitness centers.

But the requirement will still be in effect in some places.

Children will not be required to wear masks in the classroom, but a federal mandate on public transportation means they must wear face masks on school buses, said Heather Hill, infectious disease supervisor for the Benton Franklin Health District, speaking on the Kadlec on Call podcast Wednesday night.

Masks also will continue to be required on other buses, taxis and ride share services, despite the easing of CDC guidance on Friday.

Health care facilities also would continue to require masks, including hospitals, clinics, dental offices and pharmacies, under Washington state requirements that Inslee said previously would not be affected by the planned easing of restriction on March 21..

In addition, places where many people live in close quarters would continue to require masks. That includes jails and nursing homes.

This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Inslee sticking with March 21 for lifting COVID mask requirements — for now."