Washington State 'fully' reopened Wednesday, with social distancing no longer required and masks no longer needed for anyone but those unvaccinated while indoors.

Secretary of Health Umair Shah said that over the 15-month fight against COVID-19, the state has seen over 450,000 cases and roughly 5,900 deaths.

"The bottom is that, as we look at what has occurred over this last year and are now moving through June 30th of 2021, we can look back and say we in Washington have been successful." commented Shah, "We have had a strong response, a robust response."

Shah added that the battle against COVID-19 is not over.

Washington ranks 9th-best in COVID vaccination rate among US states, and has the 5th lowest COVID cases per capita and 7th lowest COVID deaths per capita. The state ended less than 1% shy of the 70% vaccination goal to reopen early.

Large indoor events of 10,000 people or more will continue to have a reduced capacity through at least July. Businesses and organizations can require masks if they would like to. K-12 schools must still practice masking for the time being.

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