New statewide outdoor mask requirement for large crowds starts Monday amid Delta surge
As the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to rage like a wildfire, spawning new cases across the state of Washington, the state on Thursday announced new masking rules for large outdoor gatherings.
The requirement, announced at a news briefing by Gov. Jay Inslee, is similar to the ones announced last week in King and Pierce counties.
Under the new requirement, starting Monday (Sept. 13), the state’s facial covering requirement for individuals over age 5 will include large outdoor events with 500 or more attendees regardless of vaccination status.
Pierce County launched its outdoor face mask requirement the day after Labor Day, as did King County. Pierce County also requires masks to be worn both indoors and outside for all attending the Washington State Fair in Puyallup.
The state already requires everyone over the age of 5 to wear a mask in public indoor settings and has “strongly recommended” masks outdoors in crowds of any size if social distancing could not be maintained.
Inslee and state Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah pointed to the risk of super-spreader events at gatherings amid the Delta variant as part of the reasoning behind the requirement, highlighting one example among others: the Watershed Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Grant County, with more than 200 cases tied to the event.
“I’m also going to mention in the last six weeks we’ve had five outdoor events that have became super-spreader events in the state of Washington,” said Shah. “More than 500 people were infected at these concerts, fairs, rodeos across Washington.”
About 168 cases have been tied to the Northwest Washington Fair in Whatcom County.
The new mask requirement comes as hospitals continue to juggle an overflow of patients.
“We’ve got to take measures to not allow our hospitals to be overrun. Because our hospitals are increasingly overwhelmed with COVID patients, more than 90% of them are unvaccinated,” Inslee said at Thursday’s briefing.
In nearby Idaho, some hospitals have started rationing care, and a Richland, Washington, health official said recently that Washington state has very few ICU beds left.
“We know that their (Idaho) medical crisis is becoming our problem,” Inslee said Thursday. “As patients from Idaho would need to cross over to Eastern Washington hospitals, those hospitals are already under great stress because of our own COVID patients. So I’m asking the people ... to adopt some of the safety measures like masking requirements that we have in Washington so we can help both our states, reduce this horrible pandemic.”
The Washington state Department of Health on Wednesday said in a statement, “DOH is working with state, federal and private partners to mitigate Washington’s health care surge by accessing additional volunteer and contracted resources, coordinating information sharing, and supporting efforts to shift patients to healthcare facilities that can best support their care.”
It added, “The goal is to prevent ever having to utilize crisis standards of care anywhere in Washington.”
The governor emphasized the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, and pointed to it as the reason the state is not yet rolling back openings.
“The fact is when you make a decision to not be vaccinated, it is not just about your health. It is about the health of everyone around you. We need more people to think a little less about ‘me,’ and start thinking a little more about ‘we.’ “
He added: “it is time for people to stop listening to conspiracy theories about microchips in this vaccine and start listening to their physicians. And we are asking people to speak to their physicians about this vaccine. If you are giving consideration to not being vaccinated, we’re asking you to get the straight information from your physician.
“This vaccine is a miracle,” Inslee said.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 2:39 PM with the headline "New statewide outdoor mask requirement for large crowds starts Monday amid Delta surge."
