Washington state of emergency ends today

OLYMPIA — The state of emergency declared by Gov. Jay Inslee to fight the COVID–19 pandemic ends today at midnight. Inslee imposed the state of emergency in March 2020.

A Washington Department of Health order mandating masks in healthcare and long-term care facilities will remain in effect, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The mask order also applies in some correctional facilities in communities with high levels of coronavirus transmission, the order said.

Some rules governing workplace safety also will remain in effect.

“Ending this order does not mean we take the pandemic less seriously or will lose focus on how the virus has changed the way we live,” Inslee wrote in the press release. “We will continue our commitment to (public health), but simply through different tools that are now more appropriate for the era we’ve entered.”