When Washington Reopens, Some Restrictions Will Remain: Inslee

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington state is set to reopen, lifting the bulk of the remaining COVID-19 restrictions by the month's end or sooner. But not all of those restrictions will be going away, according to Gov. Jay Inslee.

"Soon we'll be able to get back to essentially normal operations," Inslee said. "We should be very proud of what we've accomplished in the state of Washington. We have saved thousands of lives, and now we are on the verge, on the cusp, on the doorstep of getting back to full operations."

At a news conference Wednesday, Inslee clarified that, with the guidance of local health leaders, the state had identified a few restrictions that would need to stick around for the foreseeable future.

Right now, the Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recovery plan limits capacity at worship services, retailers, and restaurants, among others. The bulk of those restrictions will still be going away when Washington reopens. The governor says all industries will be allowed to return to "usual operations" with the caveat that the current mask requirements will remain in place.

Washington's latest mask guidance requires employees to provide proof of vaccination to their employer before they remove their masks on the job. It also gives businesses the right to continue requiring that all employees — and customers — remain masked.

Only very large entertainment events will see their capacity capped: indoor events with more than 10,000 attendees will be cut off at 75 percent capacity, but will not require physical distancing. Attendees will still need to follow masking guidance.

"This is a basic principle of public health to try to prevent large COVID events," Inslee said.

On the other hand, the governor says smaller venues can fill to capacity effective immediately, if all attendees are vaccinated.

Schools and universities will also be free to implement their own COVID safety restrictions. Some, like the University of Washington, have already issued guidance require students and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning for the fall semester.

Washington's travel guidance, meanwhile, will "largely mirror CDC recommendations," Inslee said. CDC travel guidance recommends masks be required aboard planes and on buses, trains or other forms of public transportation. It also recommends against travel to countries with high amounts of COVID-19 activity like Columbia and the Netherlands.

Washington is on track to reopen June 30, though it could reopen sooner if 70 percent of Washingtonians 16 and older get their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. As of the latest DOH data, 66 percent of those Washingtonians have initiated vaccination, and Seattle has already reached the 70 percent threshold.

Though reopening will mean lifting the vast majority of COVID-19 restrictions, it will not mean the end of the public health emergency. State health leaders have said that restrictions could be reimplemented if the ICU capacity hits 90 percent at any point.