Gov. Inslee orders masks to be worn in public to help stem spread of coronavirus – Seattle Times

OLYMPIA Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday announced a statewide mandate requiring facial coverings in public to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, as cases again begin to rise in Washington.

And for Yakima County which has nearly as many COVID-19 cases as the state of Oregon and where health care workers are struggling with the surge Inslee ordered even more stringent requirements to make sure people cover their faces while at businesses.

The new orders, set to take effect Friday, come after King County last month put in place its own requirements to wear facial coverings.

In a news conference where he was joined by state Health Secretary John Wiesman and the presidents of Costco and the union UFCW 21, Inslee called the new orders imperative as economic activity increases.

I think this is the way we need to look at this, said the governor. We just cannot wish this virus to go away. We have to use tools that are available to us that we know, that work.

The statewide mandate to be formally issued by Wiesman requires people over the age of 5 to wear face coverings generally while they are in any indoor or outdoor public space.

Masks will not be required outdoors when people can stay more than 6 feet apart from each other, while indoors at home with others, or while alone in a vehicle.

While children under 5 are exempt, the order recommends kids between the ages of 3 and 5 wear facial coverings.

Also exempt from the governors order: people who cannot wear a mask for medical reasons, or who are deaf or hard of hearing, specifically when they are communicating with another person.

And the order will recognize times when people can remove their masks, such as when they are eating at a restaurant, or engaged in a recreational activity either alone or with members of their household.

Violations of the statewide order are a misdemeanor, Inslee said, but we dont want to have enforcement of this.

Mandates for facial coverings have caused concern among some Black men about racial profiling by law enforcement or as being seen as a threat for covering their faces. But Inslee urged residents to also weigh the risks of contracting the virus, which has disproportionately hit people of color.

And given the ability to save somebody you love, or even a stranger that youll never meet, we hope that on the scale of things to think about, that that will be tipping the scales towards safety of everybody else around you, he said.

For Yakima County, the governor announced an emergency proclamation that will specifically bar businesses from operating, or allowing customers to enter any business, unless customers cover their faces.

Businesses in Yakima County could face sanctions or the loss of their business licenses if they dont comply with the new order, Inslee said.

Tuesdays announcement was made as health officials try to get a handle on the increasing spread of the virus in the county of about 255,000 people.

Yakima County through the end of Monday had reported 6,435 cases of COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health. The county remains in the first and most restrictive phase of the states four-part reopening plan.

State health officials confirmed 516 new coronavirus infections in Washington on Tuesday, as well as eight additional deaths.

The update brings the statestotals to 29,386 cases and 1,284 deaths, meaning about 4.4% of people diagnosedin Washington have died, according to the state Department of Healths (DOH)data dashboard. The data is as of 11:59 p.m. Monday.

Inslee had earlier in the pandemic stayed away from issuing a facial-covering requirement. But on Tuesday, he said the outbreak in Yakima County and an increasing body of research on facial coverings swayed him.

In the news conference, Wiesman, the Health Department secretary, cited a review in the Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Published earlier this month, the review of about 172 observational studies over how factors like physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection affect the spread of the new and other coronaviruses.

Analysis of 10 studies found that masks reduced the risk of transmission of coronaviruses from about 17% to 3%, according to a news release about the study, which did note limitations on the certainty of the evidence.

Solutions should be found for making face masks available to the generalpublic. However, people must be clear that wearing a mask is not an alternativeto physical distancing, eye protection or basic measures such as hand hygiene,but might add an extra layer of protection, said Dr. Derek Chu, aco-author of the analysis and an assistant professor at McMaster University, in thenews release.

Dr.Jared Baeten, the vice dean of the UWs School of Public Health, called Tuesdaysannouncement a good policy decision.

Masks take us a long way to prevent infection in other people and ourselves and to everybody coming together to defeat coronavirus, said Baeten, who is also an infectious-disease physician.

The message from some scientists and public health experts about masks and face coverings has changed and evolved during the course of the pandemic, which Baeten acknowledged might be confusing or frustrating to people.

Threemonths ago, we were all worried there werent enough masks in the country tokeep our frontline workers safe and our hospitals open, Baeten said, referringto medical-grade masks. At that time, there wasnt a mandatory push formasking, in large part, to make sure we didnt have a run on masks that wouldhave made all of us less safe.

Now, supplies have improved and health officials better understand how the virus can spread from infected people without symptoms or those who have yet to develop them.

Several people hanging out in a park in Seattles Ravenna neighborhood Tuesday afternoon didnt have strong objections to the new order.

Mary Kachel and Erin Sekulich, who were chatting on a picnic bench, said they thought the statewide mandate was a good idea.

It doesnt seem like much of a stretch than what were already doing, said Sekulich, 45, though she added her mask made her feel like [she] was wearing a political statement when she recently made a trip out to Leavenworth, where the general public wasnt as diligent about covering their faces.

Kachel, 42, said she didnt think the statewide order was the end of the world.

I think the science supports it, Sekulich said.

David Rodriguez, 35, said he approved of the new order and he hoped it would target more rural communities, where outbreaks have recently gotten worse.

I dont feel like were in the clear, Rodriguez said.

He added that he would be worried about the penalty of forgetting a face covering in public.

It depends on how much a citation would be, he said. Im not working now But I think warnings are appropriate.

For some Yakima business owners, it doesnt matter whether they agree with Tuesdays mask directive: Theyll follow it to ensure their business survival. Many businesses in the county wont reopen until the infection rate falls.

Businesses just want to be open, said Melissa DeRosier,the owner of Nouveau Spa and Salon in western Yakima. The salons eight hairdressersare out of work, and DeRosiers federal coronavirus aid is about to expire.Were afraid the whole valley will just be a ghost town. Some clients arentgoing to like it [wearing a mask], but if theyre going to want to get theirhair done, theyre going to have to do it.

The number of Yakima residents wearing masks while shoppinghas nearly doubled from late May, according to a Yakima Health District survey.By mid-June, nearly 65% of residents wore masks while shopping.

That means that nearly 35% of Yakima residents arentcovering their faces in public. Nestor Hernandez, the president of YakimasHispanic Chamber of Commerce, said he sees a divide between how people behavewhen theyre on and off the clock.

A lot of agricultural workers wear the mask at work but assoon as they get off work, its like everything is back to normal, he said.Its hard culturally. Everyones anxious to be out shopping.

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Gov. Inslee orders masks to be worn in public to help stem spread of coronavirus - Seattle Times