By Pepper Fisher
CLALLAM COUNTY – Effective Monday, April 3, the statewide mask mandate in health care, long-term care, and correctional settings, is no longer a requirement, but voluntary. However, individual institutions can still choose to require face coverings going forward.
State officials announced the end to the order several weeks ago, citing a downward trend in infections and hospitalizations coming out of virus season.
Patients of Jamestown Family Clinic were notified by email that mask wearing would be voluntary from here on. We reached out to Clallam County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry to see what the rest of our hospitals and clinics were doing.
“So, I would say the lifting of the mask mandate is more, kind of like a move towards normalization of operations. Not necessarily saying that masks aren’t necessary, but just moving into the way we normally do things. And so, for most facilities in the region, that means that your doctors and nurses that are taking care of you are still going to be wearing a masks when they see you, but patients are no longer required to wear a mask. And the reason for that difference is that, as your doctors, we have a special obligation to protect you that you actually don’t have for us. It’s kind of a intentionally one-way relationship. So, in most cases you’re going to see doctors and nurses still wearing masks when they take care of you.”
We asked Dr. Berry if she agreed with the timing of lifting the state mask mandate.
“I do, actually. I think it is reasonable. I think we’re in a different phase of the pandemic where, certainly, there is still…it’s a serious virus, and it still poses a significant threat to some of our most vulnerable members of our community. But we have so many more options available to protect ourselves than we did in the beginning. We’ve got high quality vaccines. We’ve got good treatments available. We really are in a different phase. And thankfully, we’re seeing rates of severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths falling, even at the national level.”
Dr. Berry added that if you’re feeling ill and, especially if you have a cough or other respiratory ailment, you will likely be required to wear a mask to see a doctor.