Washington's emergency order has ended, but you still have to wear masks in these places

Washington's statewide state of emergency order for the pandemic is over as of this morning, but some pandemic-era rules and precautions will remain.

Employees with the city of Seattle and the state of Washington will still have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as a condition of employment. No boosters are required.

Covid workplace rules will still be in place. Folks with Covid will still have to stay home for five days, and employers will have to provide accommodations for high-risk employees, and notify staff when there is a case at work.

Masking requirements will also stick around certain settings: hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities.

In September, the CDC dropped its recommendation that everyone mask up in health-care settings. The agency now only recommends that people wear masks when they’re sick or caring for someone with Covid, if they’re personally at risk of a severe case, or if community Covid risk is high.

Now, only about a dozen states and D.C. still require masking in health-care facilities, including Washington, California, Oregon, New York and Massachusetts.

Washington, D.C., has some of the most stringent rules, requiring people to mask up not only in health-care settings, long-term care facilities, and prisons, but also in homeless shelters, city government buildings, and libraries.