Focus shifts to safety as Washington prepares for the end of its statewide mask mandate

After months of hanging "masks required" signs on their doors, businesses across King County and Washington state are preparing for next month when the mask mandates are slated to end.

How are local businesses handling these changes?

Washington state's mask mandate lifts on March 21, 2022 (King County's vaccine verification mandate will end on March 1). For Sam Halhuli, the end the mask mandate is a relief.

"I was immediately excited, to be honest," Halhuli said. "I think all along, all I've really said is 'we want to do what's safe.' We want to be told that what we are allowed to do is safe."

"So the fact that we're being told that we can remove the mask mandate should mean, and to me means, that we're being told that it's safe to do so."

Halhuli is the owner of the Mule Tavern, a craft dive bar in South Tacoma.

Halhuli said it's been difficult, finding the right language to use when asking customers to keep their masks on, partly because customers have received different messages depending on where they go.

"That translation of the rules into something digestible is different in different places," Halhuli said. "From the range of bars doing absolutely nothing to, like, the bars up in Seattle actually checking vaccinations. So with that range, you know, that can be confusing for customers."

While the mask mandate won't be sticking around, Halhuli hopes that another pandemic-era measure does: an increased respect for sick time. And for employees to take time off when they need it.

"The thing that sticks should be that we wear our masks when we're sick. And you just need to go out and buy a bottle of Nyquil because you don't have anyone else to get you one. That you stay home when you're sick. So those are really the changes in the way that we treat our employees — is to let them know that they have a safe environment to take care of their health."

Listen to Soundside's full conversation with Sam Halhuli here.

What should you do to stay safe when Washington state's mask mandate ends?

Local jurisdictions and businesses, such as the Mule Tavern, can still choose to require face masks after the mandate ends. And public health officials continue to encourage people to take precautions, including getting vaccinated and boosted.

Dr. Umair Shah, Washington State’s Secretary of Health, tells Soundside that while the statewide mask mandate will end on March 21, individuals can still mask up. He hopes others will respect that.

"It's not that on March 21, masks magically go away from the state of Washington," Shah said. "What really it is, it's ushering in a new way of looking at things, because the science and the data are showing us that things are better. That's the key message: things are better and we're hopeful for what that future is going to look like as we get closer and closer to March 21."

"We should not shame anybody for wearing a mask, or not shame anybody for using hand sanitizer," he said. "I really hope that we do everything we can to be civil with each other. And that's not been how this pandemic has played out."

Dr. Shah stresses that while conditions are changing, the pandemic is not over. He is focused on reminding people to have safety measures in place as they go about their daily lives.

"I try to stay away from labels," Shah said. "You know, 'new normal,' 'endemic.' Everybody has a different interpretation of what that means. The way I look at it is that we have all transformed and changed because of this pandemic. You are not the same as you were two years ago. I'm the same as I was two years ago ... what I really look at is that we are going to be living with Covid-19 for a while, a long time coming. The pandemic doesn't end in March."

Hear Soundside's full conversation with Dr. Shah by clicking the audio above.