King County health officer recommends people wear masks in indoor public spaces - KING5.com

The announcement comes three weeks after King County dropped its masking directive and the county passed the 70% threshold of fully vaccinated residents.

Since the end of June, King County has followed Washington state’s masking guidance, which says people who are not fully vaccinated must continue wearing masks in indoor settings, but everyone should mask up in high-risk crowded areas, like medical facilities, public transit and schools.

With that in mind, Duchin was prompted to encourage even vaccinated people to mask up again when indoors.

COVID-19 case rates are increasing in King County, and Duchin said that’s fueled by variants.

About 700,000 people remain unvaccinated in King County, in addition to thousands of people who are immunocompromised and may not fully respond to vaccines, according to Duchin.

Health officials say there have been cases of vaccinated people being infected after indoor activity in poor ventilation without masks.

Duchin cited a recent model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) that says universal masking in Washington could prevent 840-1300 deaths in the state by Nov.

Scott Lindquist, Washington State Department of Health acting chief science officer, said universal masking “is exactly what we are discussing right now,” but added that “Washington state isn’t all King County” and he feels comfortable with local health officials making their own masking decisions at this time. .