Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced the forthcoming end of the indoor mask mandate.

OLYMPIA — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced last week that the statewide indoor mask mandate will be lifted March 21, as case and hospitalization rates continue to steadily drop, the vaccination rate grows and access to at-home tests, high-quality masks and effective therapeutics are more widely available.

Inslee made the announcement during a Feb. 17 news conference, a day before the state’s outdoor mask mandate for large events was lifted and hospitals were able to resume elective surgeries.

“The virus has changed significantly over the past two years, and so has our ability to fight it. While caution is still needed, we are entering a new phase of the pandemic,” Inslee said at the news conference.

Beginning March 21, masks will no longer be required in most indoor settings, including K-12 schools and childcare facilities. They will also not be required in grocery stores, businesses and retail establishments, restaurants and bars, places of worship, and gyms and recreation centers.

Masks will still be required in healthcare facilities, including hospitals, outpatient and dental offices, long-term care settings and pharmacies. They will also still be required on public transit and school buses, in accordance with federal law, and correctional facilities.

Inslee noted that businesses and local governments can still choose to implement mask and vaccination requirements for workers or customers, and school districts can still choose to have students and teachers wear masks.

Even with masks no longer being required, Inslee said businesses still have a duty to reduce risks of covid-19 transmission, such as by promoting vaccination, improving ventilation and encouraging social distancing. Employers are also still required to inform workers when a co-worker has a suspected or confirmed case of covid-19, and that they must allow workers to continue to wear a mask if they so choose.

“People fall all along the spectrum when it comes to feeling safe and ready to be in public spaces,” Inslee said. “And here’s the hard truth: while we have the tools we need to fight back, covid-19 is still a danger to many people. I encourage people to continue doing what’s necessary to keep themselves, their families, or their workers safe. Caution, compassion and kindness is what will allow us to move forward, together.”

School mask guidanceTo help school districts with this transition, the state Department of Health is expected to issue updated guidance for K-12 schools during the week of March 7 that will go into effect on March 21.

Schools will still be required to report covid-19 cases and outbreaks, and students and staff with covid-19 symptoms will continue to be required to quarantine away from school, and those testing positive must isolate at home for the prescribed amount of time.

“Our efforts over the past two years have led us to this moment. Nearly all of our school employees are vaccinated, the number of vaccinated students increases each day, and we have one of the most robust covid-19 school testing programs in the country. Moving away from a statewide mask mandate to masks being encouraged is a safe next step as we move from pandemic to endemic,” said state Schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal.

In an email to families following Inslee’s announcement, the Ocean Beach School District said it did not have any additional information about the coming changes at that time and that it was waiting for the updated DOH guidance that is expected in the coming weeks.

“Many details still need to be understood and worked out before schools implement changes to masking policies,” the district wrote. “The state continues to require masks to be worn in schools across the state until March 21, 2022, and early abandonment of this requirement could result in health, safety, legal, and financial consequences for our communities and schools.”

Local cases continue declineIn Pacific County, new confirmed cases of covid-19 have continued to decline. The county health department reported just 39 new cases over the past week as of Feb. 21, after 112 new cases had been reported the week before — a 65.2% drop. Overall, a total of 3,695 cases have been reported in the county since the pandemic began.

County health director Katie Lindstrom said reporting inconsistencies due to the holiday weekend may have contributed to why there were far fewer cases reported last week. Fewer people also sought out testing last week, she said, but noted that “a lot more” people are using rapid at-home tests.

Free at-home tests continue to be made available through the county’s testing program that launched earlier this month. Pacific County residents and workers can pick up a test kit during business hours at any of the Timberland Regional Library locations in the county, including Ilwaco, Ocean Park, Naselle, Raymond and South Bend. Tests are also available at the county health department locations in Long Beach and South Bend, and the Shoalwater Bay Medical Clinic in Tokeland.

People can also pick up free N95 masks at those locations, Lindstrom said, after the county recently received a shipment of masks from the state’s stockpile.

The county’s case rate per 100,000 people over a two-week period stood at 771 as of Feb. 20, down substantially from 1,303 on Feb. 13. Health officials also reported four new hospitalizations and one new death over the past week, for a total of 156 and 49, respectively.

Statewide as of Feb. 17, 1,391 people in Washington are currently hospitalized with suspected or confirmed cases of covid-19, down 23.2% from a week prior, while 68 patients are on ventilators — down 43.8% from the previous week.