The one positive sign, say State Department of Health officials, is that the number of deaths is not rising, but there are also parts of Washington that are just starting to see increases that began west of the Cascades weeks ago.
State Health COVID consultant, Doctor Bob Lutz, says often west side activity pre-dates what we see on the east side, so he says we have to be sensitive to that. He also says it comes down to how much risk you have and the environments where you find yourself. “So, masking is still a strong recommendation,” Lutz says, “if you find yourself in an at-risk environment and, as we’ve talked about, being up-to-date with vaccines is just an essential piece to really prevent disease spread across the state.”
Even with the recommendation, the state does not plan to bring back a mask mandate. They also urge other prevention measures, including vaccines and testing to make sure you don’t unknowingly expose people if you’re COVID positive.
This comes as they have great anticipation of the June 15th FDA meeting on both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for kids under age 5, which they hope will be followed by CDC and Western States Scientific Safety Review Group approval.
