Washington state lifts COVID-19 restrictions for a full reopening: Here's what you need to know

After over a year of restrictions and limitations meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, the day has finally come: all restrictions in Washington are set to lift on Wednesday, June 30, fully reopening the state's economy.

Since May, all of Washington state has been in Phase 3 of the state's "Roadmap to Recovery" reopening plan, which limited indoor capacity at many businesses to 50%. Now, restaurants, bars, gyms, retailers and other businesses across the state will be allowed to reopen at 100% capacity and return to normal operations.

"Because folks listened to science and stayed home to stay healthy, wore masks and got vaccinated, we can now safely fully re-open our state’s economy and cultural centers after 15 long months," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a news release Wednesday. "It hasn’t been easy, but I’m proud of how Washingtonians came together, persevered and sacrificed to fight this virus, and now we’re finally in a place that is safe enough to end this chapter."

There are still some capacity rules for very large indoor events with over 10,000 attendees. Those events will be limited to 75% capacity under the current plan unless vaccine verification is occurring, in which case there will be no capacity limits. Those restrictions will be revaluated on July 31.

The reopening comes even though the state has not achieved its goal of a 70% vaccination rate. The most recent data from the Washington Department of Health (DOH) shows 68.8% of residents 16 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine as of June 28. That is slightly different from federal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has calculated that 73.7% of the state has initiated vaccination.

However, that discrepancy is based off of the metrics used for calculating, as the CDC is using data for ages 18 and up as well as Census numbers from 2019 instead of 2020. Inslee was firm earlier this month that the state is basing reopening off of its own calculations, not the CDC's, and rejected calls to reopen the state early.

Fully vaccinated individuals in the state will not be required to wear a mask at most public indoor and outdoor spaces. On Tuesday, King County lifted its local mask order, placing the entire state in line with the CDC's guidance. However, businesses can still choose to require people to wear masks and in certain places like hospitals, long-term care facilities and doctor's offices, masks will still be required. Secretary of Health Umair Shah has asked residents to "respect the rules of the room" and mask up in necessary.

Unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear a mask indoors and adequately social distance, and health officials are warning that their risk is even higher with more contagious variants spreading.

"People who are unvaccinated are at increased risk for COVID-19 along with people who do not respond to vaccine because they are immunocompromised due to underlying medical conditions," King County public Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin said in a news release Tuesday. "The best protection for both individuals and the community as a whole will be through more of us continuing to be vaccinated."

Travel guidance will now follow CDC recommendations, which advises to delay travel — both domestic and internationally — until fully vaccinated. Additionally, all travelers entering the United States, including citizens, are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days before travel.

While the milestone is a hopeful one, officials also said that activities could be rolled back at anytime if the statewide ICU capacity reaches 90%.