This weekend marks a return to pre-pandemic conditions in businesses with the lifting of proof-of-vaccination and masking mandates.
COVID-19 case rates in Clallam County have reached the 200 cases per 100,000 population benchmark that allow for the lifting of the mandate that restaurants and bars ask customers who want to sit indoors for proof of vaccination, and Jefferson County is expected to have reached it by today.
The lifting of the proof-of vaccination mandate comes into effect today. On Saturday, the statewide indoor masking mandate will be lifted.
“We’re one of the largest caterers on the Peninsula, and in December, my catering business was down almost 70 percent,” after the proof-of-vaccination mandate went into effect on Sept. 4, said Michael McQuay, owner of the Kokopelli Grill in Port Angeles, “and I know some of that had to do with the vaccine mandate because multiple parties either canceled or reduced their guest count when they were told everyone had to be vaccinated.
“Overall, from September through the end of the year, we were down over 24 percent, and I attribute most of that to the vaccine mandate,” he said Thursday.
McQuay was one of six eatery managers who filed a complaint for injunctive relief in Clallam County Superior Court on Nov. 24 against Dr. Allison Berry, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, and Clallam County after Berry issued the proof-of-vaccination mandate on Sept. 2.
The operators of The Oasis Bar and Grill, Blondie’s Plate, Sunshine Cafe, and Jose’s Famous Salsa and Salsa House Restaurant, all in Sequim; Blackberry Cafe in Joyce, and Kokopelli Grill/Coyote BBQ Pub, said the health order violated their “economic liberty,” cost them revenue and customers, and was arbitrary by applying solely to restaurants and bars.
Berry explained the order, issued at the height of the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19, at the time, saying: “Indoor bars and restaurants are known to pose a high risk for COVID-19 transmission, as they encourage unmasking of large groups of people indoors. Our goal is to make these safer places to be and to reduce transmission in our communities, allowing our hospitals to keep functioning and our schools to open more safely this fall.”
A settlement finalized on Feb. 4 directed that the mandate would be lifted on or before March 11 if the case rates were low enough.
Clallam County hit the 200 cases per 100,000 population threshold on Thursday.
Jefferson County updates its case rate weekly and will do so today. It is expected to be at the 200 mark, if not just below it.
Case rates are a reflection of cases reported during a two-week period. They are computed using a formula based on 100,000 population even for counties that do not have 100,000 people living in them.
Angry customers
Kris Nelson, owner of Sirens Pub, Old Whiskey Mill and The In-Between in Port Townsend, said the financial cost of the proof-of-vaccination mandate was nothing compared to the toll on the mental health of her staff, who took verbal abuse from angry customers while enforcing it.
“The problem we saw was when the mandate went into effect, no one knew about it, not even locals,” Nelson said. “No one had ever asked people for their vaccination card before.
“You know the couple that comes in for lunch every week, that we know are vaccinated, can’t come in and have lunch because they don’t have their vaccination cards. They’re at home, and you think they’re super understanding — no, they’re mean, because they’re upset,” she added.
Nelson noted that, eventually, like masking, the requesting of vaccine cards became routine, but customers could still be very hostile.
“That first month was really, really bad,” Nelson said. “We had to call up people who had made reservations and had tons of cancellations and people wouldn’t just cancel, they would say they would never come back and tell you what a terrible person you are.”
Nelson hopes the lifting of the mandate will bring an end to some of the abuse.
“Going forward, I am not going to enforce those mandates now that they are lifted. I pondered on that pretty carefully … you’re weighing health risk versus staff abuse.
“I feel like, at this point, lifting my staff from the burden of having to enforce these rules is with their mental health and that is more important to me right now,” Nelson said.
Masking
Although the statewide masking mandate will be lifted on Saturday, health officials throughout the state recommend that masks be worn in indoor spaces at least until case rates drop to or below 100 cases per 100,000 population.
“We still strongly encourage masking in indoor spaces” until “case rates are in a place where we can move from mandate to recommendation,” Berry said.
Some business owners have said they plan to continue to require face masks, at least among their employees, even after the mandate has been lifted on Saturday.
“All of us who work at Abracadabra will continue wearing masks for now,” said Marion Lodwick, owner of Abracadabra in Port Townsend.
“We will encourage customers through signage to continue wearing masks to protect our little ones who are not yet vaccinated, as well as those who may have less protection due to various health issues,” he added.
“We will not require customers to wear a mask, however, if they chose not to.
“We will be watching the COVID numbers within our community, and if numbers go up, we can go back to requiring everyone to mask up,” he added, saying he is “hoping we are moving on.”
Many business owners said that although they will no longer require customers or staff to wear face masks, they will continue to provide them for those who want them, as well as sanitization stations.
Peninsula College announced Thursday that it will continue to require indoor masking through the remainder of the winter quarter, which ends March 22. During the spring and summer, masking will be optional, but sanitation stations and masks will be available for those who still want to use them.
The state will continue to require face masks in medical offices, senior/adult care facilities, corrections facilities and public transportation.
Clallam County added nine new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the county’s total since the pandemic began from 10,835 on Wednesday to 10,844.
Jefferson County added 18 new cases on Thursday, bringing its total since the pandemic began from 3,106 on Wednesday to 3,124. Berry attributed this jump in cases to delayed reporting from January and February and said it would not impact the case rate.
Jefferson County on Thursday reported 28 people in isolation with active cases, down from 33 reported Wednesday.
Clallam County does not report that metric but does report a daily average over a two-week period.
On its COVID-19 dashboard, Clallam County said on Thursday that the average daily number of cases was 11, down from the 12 reported on Wednesday.
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Reporter Ken Park can be reached at kpark@peninsuladailynews.com.
