Inslee considers ‘No mask, No service’ rule for Tri-Cities businesses to slow coronavirus

Gov. Jay Inslee is considering whether to require businesses in Benton and Franklin counties to only serve customers who wear masks inside.

It’s a request he heard from Tri-City area mayors, who were among the local government and healthcare leaders he met with Tuesday morning during a visit to the Tri-Cities.

“If businesses abide by that, it is going to increase mask usage dramatically,” he said.

He’s already issued a similar order for Yakima County. Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties are the only three in the state still asking permission to move past Phase 1 of reopening, to allow more businesses to open up and small gatherings.

Inslee was heckled by three protesters who came to the outdoor news conference on the Columbia Basin College campus in Pasco after his meeting with local leaders.

The governor’s staff moved the news conference indoors after seven minutes when Inslee’s comments couldn’t be heard over the shouting. He spoke and answered media questions for another 40 minutes inside.

Inslee said local leaders asked that he allow some small businesses to reopen, to give people some hope. It was a request that came from both Republicans and Democrats, he said.

Inslee said he is contemplating daily the Benton and Franklin applications to reopen.

State leaders are trying to assess if it is too big of a risk — pointing out that the more times people get close to each other, the higher likelihood they are to spread the virus that causes COVID-19, he said.

State leaders continue to weigh the needs of the community to keep its people safe and to reactivate the economy, with many businesses closed now for months and people out of work.

The best way to do both is to increase the use of face masks in the area, he said.

He is encouraged that about 160,000 people are wearing masks in the area, or a little more than 50 percent, according to observations the Benton Franklin Health District made last week at Tri-Cities grocery stores.

But the coronavirus has spread dramatically in the Tri-Cities over the past several months — with Franklin’s cases increasing six fold and Benton’s five fold, Inslee said.

“We simply cannot abide the continue loss of life and the continued reduction of our economic activity,” he said.

He’s also concerned about the Tri-Cities hospital capacity. On Monday all but one intensive care bed was in use, he said.

Hospital leaders he met with told him that they could add more ICU beds, but that staffing for them may be an issue.

Protesters shout

About a dozen protesters appeared to be mixed in with community leaders, news media, staff and a few others invited to hear Inslee speak.

Some protesters wore T-shirts that said “Inslee is non-essential,” and carried signs that said “Wake up and smell the tyranny.”

Others held signs for Republican gubernatorial candidates hoping to challenge Inslee this fall and another was waving a Trump flag.

Inslee said people can disparage him and other elected officials all they want — just do it with a mask on to curb the coronavirus spread and allow businesses in Benton and Franklin counties to reopen.

Wearing masks is a temporary measure, but it currently is the law in the state of Washington, he said.

“There is no debate in the scientific community about the fact that masks work,” he said. “It is surprising to me that people are yelling about that anywhere, including in the Tri-Cities.”

Wearing masks is not a partisan issue, he said.

Among those who have called for wearing cloth face coverings in public are Vice President Mike Pence as recently as Monday; Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.; and retired Gen. Jim Mattis, the former defense secretary who calls Richland home, the governor pointed out.

Wearing one shows that people care about others and not infecting them — whether they are their grandparents or a grocery store clerk, he said

No court in the nation has ruled that widely issued requirements to help control the spread of the virus are unconstitutional or illegal, he said.

“There is nothing in the Constitution that says we should surrender our loved ones to a virus,” he said.

Inslee called his meeting with Tri-Cities area public health officials and elected leaders before the press conference “very, very productive.”

In the afternoon he met with Tri-Cities business leaders.

“I enjoyed meeting with elected leaders in the Tri-Cities today,” he tweeted at the end of the day. “We don’t see eye to eye on everything, but we all agree on the importance of masks.”

The governor’s visit to the Tri-Cities followed visits to Yakima on June 16 and Spokane on June 25.

This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 2:33 PM.