Are mask mandates coming back to Washington state? Buckle up and pay attention, because it’s a question that is currently being examined.
Here are Five Fast Facts about the CDC’s latest mask guidelines for the Evergreen state:
- 📊The Trigger - Based on data the CDC collected through mid-July, 14 counties are showing “high” levels of COVID cases (200+ cases in the last 7 days). Obviously, they’re keeping a close eye on this as time goes on.
- 😷The 2-Sided CDC Coin - The CDC recommends wearing masks in areas of high COVID rates. Of course, the CDC also said that mask mandates weren’t effective, so yeah, there’s that, too.
- 🦠What’s Doing It? The latest rise in cases is being caused by the Omicron subvariant BA.5. Current boosters are supposed to target the BA.5 and BA.4 variants. They are more transmissible than the original Omicron, but as far as we can tell they’re no more dangerous. Good news!
- 💉Boosters? Meh - Enthusiasm for the shots has waned significantly in recent months - only about 55% of vaccinated Washingtonians have gotten boosted. (See the previous two points.)
- 🤔Is There More Coming? The Governor’s office said they aren’t looking at any restrictions beyond masking right now. Let’s hope it stays that way!
🔥Bottom line: Though it’s difficult to find specific numbers, we all remember the pressures put on schools and businesses by mask mandates. If nothing else, the severe disagreements over masks made people feel like they were in a constant pressure cooker. It’s hard to know how a new round of mask mandates will affect Washington’s Paychecks, but it seems unlikely to be good. We’d prefer not to find out.
What do you think about the prospect of more mask mandates?
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