Masks off? Not everyone will be baring their faces as Seattle area drops the mandate

Rose Bigham has spent the entirety of the pandemic avoiding enclosed spaces and wearing masks whenever she leaves her Maltby home. She bought flu pandemic kits online in February 2020 and wears a mask even when she is alone in her car, because she wants to wash her hands before taking it off.

Her routine won’t change as Washington’s state’s mask restrictions do. She plans to wear a face mask in public areas that aren’t requiring coverings after the statewide indoor mask mandate officially ended Saturday.

Gov. Jay Inslee announced last month that the state’s COVID-19 mask requirements would lift in grocery stores, bars, gyms, child care facilities and other indoor establishments as COVID cases continue to fall from its omicron surge. But for myriad reasons — they are immunocompromised, or they work in a high-traffic area, or they live with someone who isn’t vaccinated — residents say they’ll continue to mask up.

“I just cannot run the risk of incurring potentially permanent deficits to add to the ones I already have,” said Bigham, who takes medication that suppresses her immune system. “It’s not worth the risk.”

Though federal, state and local health officials no longer recommend masks for the public indoors, they support masking for those who are at a greater risk of getting very sick from a COVID infection, are in contact with those at greater risk, or simply feel more comfortable continuing to wear a mask.