OLYMPIA — Governor Inslee announced Thursday that, starting next week, businesses statewide will not be able to serve customers who don’t wear facial coverings.
Videos have been circulating on social media for days of store customers all around the country throwing products, throwing tantrums and even getting hostile when asked to put on a mask or leave. This order from the Governor now makes it mandatory that business owners of all kinds refuse to serve those who won’t wear a face covering.
Mask mandates have created a partisan divide in some areas. In recent days though, as cases of COVID-19 have surged in several states, national GOP officials have pushed back against the notion that masks are about politics.
Inslee said today, “This virus does not discriminate between R’s and D’s.” He said earlier that nearly anything qualifies as a face covering, so long as it covers the nose and mouth.
Inslee also announced today that he is ordering a two-week statewide pause for counties looking to advance from their current stage of reopening and loosening of restrictions.
Here in Clallam County, which is in Phase 2, Health Officer Unthank told the Board of Health this week that given the current outbreaks here, she wouldn’t advise applying for Phase 3 until July 21 at the earliest.