After 32 months, the COVID emergency in Washington state has ended. As of Oct. 31, the only orders still in effect are the requirement for face masks in health care settings and long-term care facilities.
Masks are also required in correctional institutions in counties with medium or high community transmission of COVID, as determined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The level in Okanogan County is currently low.
Since Washington recorded the first case of COVID-19 in the country in January 2020, Gov. Jay Inslee declared an emergency and there have been 85 public health orders. Three-quarters of the orders had already been lifted by September. The remaining 23 orders were lifted at the end of October.
“Ending this order does not mean we take it less seriously or will lose focus on how this virus has changed the way we live,” Inslee said. “We will continue our commitments to the public’s well-being, but simply through different tools that are now more appropriate for the era we’ve entered.”
“Governor Inslee’s rescission of these remaining emergency orders marks an important transition for the state of Washington, but that does not mean that COVID-19 is not in our state anymore,” state Secretary of Health Umair Shah said. “We must move forward from a pandemic response to adapting our behaviors to coexist with the COVID-19 virus.”
COVID is still one of the deadliest infectious viruses in the United States, according to the governor’s office. Although deaths from COVID across the country have been decreasing slightly over the past couple of months, there are currently more than 2,600 deaths each week in the United States, according to the CDC.
Washington has one of the lowest per capita death rates from COVID in the country over the course of the pandemic. Inslee and state health officials believe that swiftly enacting protective measures in Washington helped save lives.
Changes to vaccine mandate
The requirement for health care and education workers to be vaccinated against COVID has also been lifted, but vaccination remains a condition of employment for most state agencies. Employers can require vaccination if they choose.
Shah extended the mask requirement for health care settings on Oct. 27. Children 5 and younger are exempt, although masks are encouraged for children aged 2 to 5. Children under the age of 2 should never wear a mask because of the risk of suffocation.
Emergency orders related to insurance coverage also expired on Oct. 31. Those orders required health insurers to waive copays and deductibles for COVID testing and protected consumers from surprise bills for lab fees for testing.
The federal COVID emergency is still in effect.
