State Reopening & Masking Guidance

East Wenatchee, WA – As of June 30, all industry sectors (except for large indoor events with more than 10,000 participants) may return to usual capacity and operations. This does not include masking, which will continue under current guidance.

Current guidance on masking from the Secretary of Health states that every person in Washington State must wear a face covering over their nose and mouth when they are in a place where people from outside their household are present.

Exemptions to the face covering requirement include:

• when fully vaccinated against COVID-19, except in health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, K-12 schools or other youth settings where masks must continue to be worn;
• when outdoors;
• when engaged in indoor or outdoor training or sports; and
• when anyone in a group is deaf or hard of hearing and not wearing a face covering is essential for communication.

For a full list of exemptions to the face covering requirement, please refer to Order 20-03.3: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/Secretary_of_Health_Order_20- 03_Statewide_Face_Coverings.pdf.

Current guidance on masking in businesses remains unchanged:

• Fully vaccinated employees do not have to wear a mask, unless their employer requires it;
• Before ending masking, employers must confirm workers are fully vaccinated;
• Regardless of vaccination status, masks are still required in health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, schools, child care centers or day camps; and
• Unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear face coverings in all public spaces.

Further information about masking in the workplace can be found at: https://www.lni.wa.gov/forms- publications/F414-179-000.pdf.

“The main thing we would like to share is that we are cautiously optimistic that things are moving in the right direction. We want to stress that people continue to get vaccinated when and where they can as we have the Delta Variant that is highly contagious and affecting younger people at a higher rate than the original wild type strain of COVID19,” Luke Davies, CDHD Administrator, says.

To stay informed on local public health, visit www.cdhd.wa.gov and follow CDHD on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.