It is important to keep all mitigation measures in place until March 21, according to the region’s health officer.

State and regional authorities set a March 21 date for lifting indoor masking mandates.

Gov. Jay Inslee in his announcement last Thursday added that while masking will no longer be mandated after March 21, residents are still encouraged to continue preventing the spread of COVID-19 and bring case numbers down.

Dr. Allison Berry, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, was among the members of the committee of health officers that advised Inslee on the lifting of the indoor masking mandate.

“We do believe that by March 21, our case numbers will be in a safe range that is appropriate to transition from requiring masks in indoor spaces to recommending masks in indoor spaces,” Berry told the Jefferson County Board of Health last Thursday.

“I want to be clear that we do still recommend masking in indoor spaces, but it will no longer be required in public indoor spaces,” she said.

Businesses will be able to designate whether they require customers to mask up or not; they can set their own rules.

In the meantime, “it is really important that we maintain our mitigations until March, 21,” Berry cautioned.

“We want to be at a much safer place when we remove these mitigations,” she added.

“Otherwise, we will likely see ongoing significant transmission or potentially even a subsequent surge.”

Berry also reiterated that the proof-of-vaccination mandate for people dining or drinking indoors in Jefferson and Clallam counties is on track to be lifted by March 11. She noted that the lift could come earlier if both counties can get their case rates down to 200 cases per 100,000 before that date.

”If we continue at our current trajectory we are actually likely to get there before March 11, so I really want to encourage all of our citizens to work together to drive those case numbers down,” Berry said.