Welcome to Skagit County

June 29, 2021

Economic Reopening scheduled for Washington State at 12:01 AM on Wednesday, June 30

Governor Jay Inslee released a statement today ahead of Washington’s upcoming June 30 reopening for individuals and businesses preparing to return to normal capacity and operations. In his statement, the Governor announced that, effective 12:01 AM on Wednesday, June 30, all industry sectors previously covered by guidance in the Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery or the Safe Start Reopening Plan may return to full capacity and operations. The only exception to this being for large indoor events (any event with more than 10,000 simultaneous participants in an indoor, enclosed space).

The Governor’s Reopening guidance included:

Vaccine verification/negative testing: Recommended but not required for large indoor and outdoor events
Capacity limitations: No restrictions in restaurants, bars, stores, businesses, theaters etc. (except large indoor events)
Physical distancing: No requirements
Travelers: Follow CDC recommendations
Facial covering/Masking: Not required for vaccinated individuals, unless required by individual business

The WA State Secretary of Health’s mask order will remain in place even after June 30, meaning that people who are not fully vaccinated must continue to wear a face mask in public indoor settings. All people, regardless of vaccination status, are still required to wear masks in certain places, such as:

Child care facilities, camps, K-12 schools, and other youth settings where children are present or expected to be present;
Health care settings, in accordance with CDC health care infection prevention and control recommendations;
Correctional facilities in areas where incarcerated individuals are present or expected to be present;
Homeless shelters in areas where individuals being served are present or expected to be present;
Public transportation and transportation hubs, including airports, bus or ferry terminals, train and subway stations

Businesses and local authorities will continue to have the right to be stricter in their masking requirements after June 30. Guidance for employers is available on the WA State Department of Labor & Industries website.

Masking helps protect those who are unvaccinated, including children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated and others with auto-immune or other conditions that prevent them from being vaccinated. Parents should be reminded that there is real risk to children until vaccinations are available. Kids who aren’t vaccinated still need to wear masks, though children younger than two years old should never wear a mask due to the risk of suffocation.

For more information on what reopening entails, refer to the follow links: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/FrequentlyAskedQuestions or https://www.governor.wa.gov/issues/issues/covid-19-resources/covid-19-reopening-guidance.