Washington Ban On Mask-Less Customers Begins Tuesday

SEATTLE, WA - Starting Tuesday, businesses in Washington will "not be allowed to serve customers goods or services" if they are not wearing facial coverings, according to Gov. Jay Inslee.

The governor announced the move at a news briefing Thursday, but it was not the only change the state had in store: the governor also introduced a two-week pause on all applications to move forward phases in the Safe Start Plan, and a ban on bar seating in Phase 3.

During the announcement, the governor noted there was likely to be some push-back to these changes, but said the stricter requirements were necessary to curb the rising number of coronavirus cases.

"Now, we're doing this for some very powerful reasons," said Inslee. "First, we're doing this because of the extremely troublesome spike in the number of cases that we are experiencing across the state of Washington, and because we know the better we can protect ourselves from the virus, the better we can avoid repeating the painful shutdowns that we have had to experience in the last several months."

The day before Inslee's announcement, Washington logged its highest daily case count yet, with 611 new coronavirus cases reported across the evergreen state, and State Secretary of Health Wiesman noted that Thursday was on track to break that with more than 700 cases.

The proclamation banning businesses from allowing mask-less customers inside is not an entirely new idea. When Inslee first announced the statewide mandate requiring masks in public spaces, it came alongside a second mandate specific to Yakima County. That mandate forbid businesses from serving customers who did not wear masks. At the time, Yakima County was leading the state in new coronavirus cases, but as case counts have continued to rise statewide, that mandate will now be applied to everyone.

State Secretary of Health John Wiesman joined Inslee's conference, to reinforce the governor's call for greater mask use.

"We know that somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of cases are asymptomatic, meaning they don't show any symptoms but people can still pass the virus on to others," said Wiesman. "We also know that people can spread the virus for up to two days before they begin showing any symptoms. That is why face coverings just continue to be such a critical tool."

Businesses that refuse to comply with the order could be punished but, like the mask mandate, Inslee says the greater goal is to emphasize the danger of the virus, rather than punishing noncompliance.

"Enforcement action is possible. There have been a number of enforcement actions against businesses," said Inslee "Almost all of them have been successful in short order, but we should not have to go that route."

New phase changes

Last weekend, Inslee announced that Washington state would not be allowing any counties in Phase 3 to apply to enter Phase 4 until case counts evened out. Now, that pause is being applied to all 39 counties in Washington state.

Effective immediately, Inslee has ordered a two-week pause on all phase applications, meaning counties like King and Pierce, who are in Phase 2, cannot apply for Phase 3. Meanwhile, counties stuck in Phase 1, like Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties, cannot apply to enter Phase 2.

"We would like to continue to reopen our economy. That can only happen if we drive down this rate of infection that is increasing, and that involves wearing more masks," said Inslee.

Additionally, the state Secretary of Health announced a change to Phase 3, banning taverns and restaurants from serving patients at bars. Going forward, customers will need to be served at isolated tables or in booths. The move comes after several stories nationwide of outbreaks originating in crowded bars and a statement from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warning that bars were an especially dangerous hotspot for the coronavirus.

Despite the new restrictions and spiking case counts, the governor stressed that he believes Washington can do the right thing and help each other pull through the pandemic.

"We know that Washingtonians can be smart and knock down this disease," said Inslee.