Seattle is considering reimplementing mask mandates for travel as the city’s emergency rooms saw a slight increase in visits relating to COVID-19.
According to King County’s Chief of Communicable Diseases, Dr. Eric Chow, the uptick in COVID-19 infections suggests “people should start taking precautions.”
“I don’t know how high this [peak] is going to be, when it’s going to peak, but taking precautions now is the best way for people to be able to mitigate the complications related to COVID,” he said.
“COVID is behaving just as it has throughout the pandemic,” Chow added, noting that “more variants [are] trying to evolve and find ways to evade our existing immunity.”
The doctor urged King County residents to take the latest COVID-19 vaccines and even consider donning a face mask while traveling on airplanes.
Some demanded that calls for face masks end. “No, we are DONE,” one X user wrote. “No more ‘mask up’ no more ‘extra precautions.’ Stop it. It’s over!”
Last year, a medical group called the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons demanded mask mandates end after studies found masks do not prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection.
“As mask mandates are contrary to the fundamental medical principle of informed consent, all masking mandates currently in place must be rescinded, and no future mandates should be imposed,” the group said in a statement.
“Furthermore, since mask mandates for viral illnesses provide no clear benefits, while creating potential for harm, individuals should be empowered to choose to not observe such mandates that are either currently in existence or that may be imposed in the future.”
