Healthcare Advisory: State Mask Requirement Remains in Place for Healthcare Settings

Note: This advisory is for healthcare professionals. To read public health advisories, visit kitsappublichealth.org/news/categories/advisories

Actions Requested

• Be aware, Washington’s COVID-19 public health emergency proclamations ended Oct. 31, 2022. However, mask requirements remain in place statewide for:

  • Healthcare settings

  • Long-term care settings

  • Correctional facilities where Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 community level is medium or high

• Be aware, Washington Secretary of Health’s face covering order is not subject to the end of the Governor’s COVID-19 emergency proclamations.

  • For more information, see RCW 43.70.130, RCW 70.05.070 and WAC 246-100-036. 

• Ensure people continue to wear masks in healthcare settings regardless of vaccination status, with a few limited exceptions. 

Contacting the Health District

• Call (360) 728-2235 and leave a message. Includes reporting notifiable conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Leave the patient’s name, date of birth and disease.

• Fax (360) 813-1168.

Additional Resources

• COVID-19 vaccine page, Kitsap Public Health District.

• COVID-19 isolation and precaution guidelines, CDC.

• COVID-19 provider guidance, DOH.

• Interim clinical considerations for use of COVID-19 vaccines, CDC.

• Provider Resources, Kitsap Public Health District.

• Flu Season (kitsappublichealth.org), Kitsap Public Health District.

• Flu Overview, WA DOH.

• Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, CDC.

• Seasonal Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Studies, CDC.

• The National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), CDC.

• Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV) Provider Resources, CDC.

• Pacific Northwest Respiratory Viral Epidemiology Data, University of Washington Virology.