What do the CDC’s new COVID community guidelines mean for masking in Whatcom County?
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new COVID-19 guidance for communities.
With high levels of vaccination and immunity due to vaccination and previous infection, the CDC said “the risk of medically significant disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 is greatly reduced for most people.”
Because of that, the CDC broke its suggested guidelines, including masking, down to the county level.
Each county is ranked in one of three categories — low, medium and high — based on the counties’ weekly number of cases per 100,000 residents, its number of new COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents and its percentage of staffed inpatient hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Though the CDC is still recommending masking in public transportation, for those who are immunocompromised and other higher risk areas, masking in other indoor situations is only recommended indoors and in schools for counties in the high range.
Based on its current numbers, the CDC says Whatcom County falls in the medium category.
But before you throw away your masks, Washington state remains under indoor masking mandate until March 21, so masks are still required in Whatcom County and elsewhere in the state at public indoor situations.
“Our office and our state Department of Health are reviewing the updated guidance from the CDC and evaluating their data, metrics and approach,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement responding to the new CDC guidance. “March 21 remains the current date for ending the state’s indoor mask requirements, and we’ll have more to say next week.”
The Department of Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard also said it identified a reporting discrepancy between the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker and the state dashboard.
“DOH is working closely with the CDC to address the issue,” the state dashboard stated. “However, the correct data likely will not be available until next week. In the meantime, please use caution when reviewing U.S. COVID-19 Community Levels by County, which underestimates COVID-19 levels in some Washington counties.”
The Whatcom County Health Department reported that though case numbers and hospitalizations have declined since the January peaks of the omicron surge, data across much of Washington still shows numbers that are comparable to the delta surge peaks in September.
“We continue to see significant impacts on our hospitals and health care systems in Washington,” Whatcom County Co-Health Officer Dr. Amy Harley said in a statement emailed to The Bellingham Herald. “The health department asks that people continue to comply with the Washington state indoor mask mandate until it is lifted on March 21. This date was chosen based on data forecasting that our health care system will be less strained by the end of March.”
