GRANT COUNTY, Wash. — Grant County Health District announced Thursday they are ending their mask mandate effective immediately.
The county will now follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) guidance on masking, according to a press release from GCHD Public Information Officer Misty Aguilar.
Grant County Heath Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny made the decision through closely monitoring COVID-19 trends, hospitalizations, health system capacities and additionally coincides with the state's reopening on Wednesday.
"Just in the last couple of months, we have seen a pretty rapid decline in positive cases," said Laina Mitchell, GCHD's Communicable Disease Coordinator, said. "Fortunately, we are seeing an increase in vaccinations. So, I think those two things compounded. Our hospitalizations have been relatively stable."
From June 17 to June 30, Grant County saw a 54 incidence rate decrease. At the beginning of the 14-day period there were 164 cases per 100,000 people and ending with 110 cases per 100,000 people.
Overall, there have been 84 COVID-19 deaths, which is 0.9 percent of their total cases. They have also had a total of 457 hospitalizations.
Washington State has a 68.8 percent vaccination rate among those 16 and older. The CDC has calculated a 73.9 percent vaccination rate among those who are 18 and older.
In Grant County, 36% of the population are fully vaccinated and nearly 40% of the population is initiating vaccination.
The county now following the principle that those who are fully vaccinated can resume activities they did prior to the pandemic without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required to do so by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, rules and regulations.
Those who are un-vaccinated will need to continue to wear a face mask in public indoor settings.
You're considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of a 2-dose series, such as a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.
Mitchell also said with the heat wave and the upcoming holiday weekend, there is some concern about large group gatherings leading to COVID-19 spread.
"Holidays are always ... a concern. I think for everyone right now, until we're further out of the woods and our incidence rate does continue to decline, because it is still higher than most counties in the state," she said.
Mitchell also said people need to remember that private businesses and other entities can choose to enforce their own mask policies.