Posted on 06/23/2020 4:20:32 PM PDT by USA Conservative
SEATTLE -- Washington state will require people to wear facial coverings in public settings, under a statewide public health order announced Tuesday by Gov. Jay Inslee in response to ongoing COVID-related health concerns.
The order, issued by Secretary of Health John Wiesman, takes effect Friday. The order requires face coverings when people are indoor in a public area, and outdoors in a public area when six feet of physical distancing can’t be maintained.
Washington joins several other states that already have statewide mask orders in place, including California, which issued its order last week.
"Even though we have been resourceful and committed, as we have reopened our economy ... we are now experiencing high activity of the virus," Inslee said.
Inslee again said Washingtonians need to practice physical distancing, wash their hands, get tested for any COVID-like symptoms and to stay home if sick.
Yakima County, which has been among the areas hardest hit by the outbreak, has even more stringent requirements under a separate proclamation issued by Inslee that also takes effect Friday. In addition to being covered by the statewide mandate on masks in public, there will now be a legal requirement that prohibits people from entering a place of business — either indoors or outdoors — without first donning a mask.
Under that same proclamation, businesses in the central Washington county are prohibited from allowing a customer to enter a business, or conduct business with a customer in any public space unless the customer is wearing a face covering.
There are exemptions for children under the age of 2 and for people who are deaf or have hearing loss. Facial coverings for children between the ages of 3 and 5 are strongly recommended, but not required under the orders.
People engaged in recreation alone or with household members and those eating out at restaurants wouldn’t have to wear masks as long as they are properly distanced from others.
The statewide order builds on a previous one from Inslee, that — since June 8 — has required workers to wear facial coverings unless they don’t interact with others on the job.
Last month, San Juan County became the first jurisdiction to impose a mask requirement that was enforceable by law, making it a misdemeanor for people to not wear a mask while in public. Brendan Cowan, a spokesman for the county, said in an email Tuesday that to date, no citations have been issued, just “lots of education and outreach.”
Several other jurisdictions — including King and Thurston counties — have issued their own face covering directives or have strongly urged residents to wear masks, though those counties have said that the efforts were focused more on education and that there were no civil or criminal penalties for violators.
A spokesman for Inslee said that violation of the statewide mask order is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. Violation of the Yakima County proclamation is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
The move comes as Washington’s 39 counties are moving through a four-stage reopening plan.
As of Tuesday, 16 counties are in Phase 3, which allows group gatherings of up to 50 people, including sports activities, and allows restaurants to increase capacity to 75 percent. Gyms and movie theaters can reopen at half capacity during this phase. Eighteen counties are currently in Phase 2, which allows restaurants and taverns to reopen at half capacity with limited table sizes, hair and nail salons and barber shops to resume business, and retail stores to reopen for in-store purchases at 30% capacity. It also allows additional outdoor recreation and gatherings with no more than five people outside of a person’s household.
Three counties — Benton, Franklin and Yakima — remain in Phase 1, which only allows essential businesses to be open and limits restaurant service to takeout and delivery and allows limited outdoor recreation.
Two other counties — Chelan and Douglas — are also in a modified Phase 1 of reopening that allows some additional business activity.
More than 28,800 people in Washington state have tested positive for the virus and at least 1,276 have died. The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most patients, and the vast majority recover. But it is highly contagious and can cause severe illness and death in some patients, particularly the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
I’m beginning to run out of faith that things will ever get better. I’m at the end of my rope.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hang on to that rope!
It’s bad now so that those who prefer to live in denial simply can’t. The horror show is exposing the treasonous left.
Hang on! It WILL get better!
November will be very interesting.
I have a friend who is basically apolitical. He’s in his 40’s and will be voting for the first time in his life. Removing Inslee as governor is the reason he is voting. Unfortunately, his family members are Democrats so he will probably be voting Democrat for the remainder of the ballot.
Do not live in WA but that is by choice. I will not comply if the lib girl gov of KS tries this. Had the Kung flu in January. At 71 years old I am too experienced to fall for such crap.
Curiously, next flu season starts the first week of October.
Just in time for the Presidential election.
Hello, Vote-By-Mail!
And, of course - Trump's Fault!
My favorite is wearing them under the nose.
The whole thing is a joke.
My wife took an elderly neighbor to the doctor.
The doctor examining him had his mask under his nose!
Cuomo is the governor.
DeBlasio is the mayor.
Bloomberg has been out of office for years.
I am a bit of an expert on criminal law in the State of Washington.
If any prosecutor is going to charge a person with a crime for not wearing a mask, well good luck with that.
This would mean that a person could demand a jury trial; all sorts of discovery, including documents from the AG, Inslee, the state health director; witnesses, including inslee since he would be the complaining witness, and the AG, AKA Sideshow Bob Ferguson.
A competent defense attorney could have Inslee on a witness stand for at least two days.
If I still lived in Washington, I would do all I could to get charged with a violation. For reasons I’d rather not dis lose at this point, the local prosecutor wouldn’t dare attempt to prosecute me. It would be fun.
They have to get a conviction first. Anyone who is somewhat knowledgeable of criminal procedure could stretch any such case out for at least two years. I could stretch it out for at least five years, then start the appeals process which could take a year or so at the state Court of Appeals.
After that I’d appeal to the State Supreme Court and force all the Justices to recuse themselves. That’s when it would get real interesting.
Wanna pay the $124 fine for a misdemeanor charge for me?
That’s what we need...masks with a Velcro smoking flap.
Yes...?
thanks for the link...interesting site
the plan is to demoralize and destabilize the current power structure to create a vacuum to fill with socialism.
This is a recurring theme in history. BLM/ANTIFA is part of it.
Up next will be forcing us to take the vaccine,
they have only just started the revolution.
I’ve written to Newhouse, Honeyford and Chandler. Got nothing back. Even the crickets aren’t chirping. These guys are sorry.
Every little act of civil disobedience to this monstrous order is good for one’s soul
They, the DemoIdiots, always blame someone else for the mess they create and in this case, Trump.
My God or what same penalty as burning down some poor guys donut shop?
This latest mask edict by Governor Dimslee is totally ridiculous. Washington state has 204 people in the hospital and 37 on ventilators.
The hospital rooms are not overloaded. I think since there was a spike in Yakima County where many migrant workers live, Dimslee does not want Yakima hospitals to become overloaded because the dims have already bankrupted the state and don’t want to pay hospital bills for illegals.
So not to appear racist, he makes an edict on the whole state.
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