Healthcare facilities mask mandate to stay in place in Washington

OLYMPIA — While most emergency orders issued by Gov. Jay Inslee in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic will end Oct. 31, the order requiring masks in healthcare facilities, and in jails and prisons in some situations, will not. Washington Secretary of Health Umair Shah said in a briefing Thursday that conditions still don’t support ending that mandate. “We may simply not be there yet,” Shah said. Masks will still be mandatory in all healthcare facilities, and in jails when there’s a moderate to high risk of spreading coronavirus. Shah said the masking order for hospitals and jails came from the Secretary of Health, and as a result isn’t subject to the end of the governor’s orders. Connie Agenbroad, chief executive officer at Othello Community Hospital, said the hospital’s guidelines are being evaluated.