Washington state will end its outdoor masking mandate for gatherings of 500 people or more this Friday. The indoor mask mandate, in place since August 23 of last year, is projected to end soon as well. On Thursday, February 17 Gov. Inslee announced statewide indoor mask mandates will no longer be required in schools and public indoor spaces starting March 21, though masks will be required for other spaces including healthcare and longterm care settings. Starting March 1, King County will no longer require restaurants, bars, theaters and gyms check the vaccination status of patrons.
For many, the decision to end mask mandates in the near future might make sense — positive cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are all trending downward. But for those who are living with disabilities and health conditions that put them at greater risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19, the decision to end indoor mask mandates could create a future of uncertainty regarding how they can stay safe in public spaces.
"I suspect that with [Gov. Inslee's] latest announcement, there will be more people pushing for continued mask mandates, because removing mask mandates [is] a decision to move on without considering those that are most at risk of severe illness," Kimberly Meck, executive director of the Alliance of People with DisAbilities told the SGN. The Alliance of People with DisAbilities is a nonprofit organization that provides services to people in King County who have any disability.
Over one in five people living in Washington State have a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most common comorbidities associated with higher odds of mortality with COVID-19 are chronic pulmonary disease, diabetes, and congestive heart failure, according to a Sept. 2020 study of 31,461 adults with COVID-19 in the US.
LGBTQ+ people are also more likely to develop health conditions in their lifetime due to systemic health and social inequities; a 2012 study from the University of Washington found that of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual adults, 36% of women and 30% of men were disabled, compared to 25% of heterosexual women and 22% of heterosexual men.
Highlighting the systemic exclusion of people with disabilities
The onset of the pandemic has exemplified the downward spiral of exclusion that leads people with disabilities to feel disenfranchised. When those in power fail to provide accessibility or acknowledge the needs of those with disabilities, that then trickles into the community at large, according to Meck.
"People with disabilities, they push back and they fight, and they try to get the people in power to change their minds, but at some point, they get exhausted and they feel like it's a lost cause," said Meck.
Disability advocates have had to push extra for resources and understanding during the pandemic. The medical model of disability, or the idea that an individual is responsible only for their health and disability and not for the safety of others in their community, has also impeded requests for safety measures like mask mandates, because they are not viewed from a community-first standpoint.
"Early on in the pandemic, we fought and fought and fought to get people to understand that there are people who have access needs that are different than the non-disabled population. We fought to have food maps made accessible. We fought to have COVID information made accessible. We fought to ensure that all people with disabilities felt comfortable at vaccination locations and testing locations," Meck said.
Meck argues that proactive accessibility and accommodations from those in power would trickle into the community at large and ensure that those with disabilities have full accessibility.
"In my perfect world, we wouldn't have to fight. We wouldn't have to go and evaluate these locations, or these responses, or the information that goes out, because it would be an automatic thing," Meck added.
Back to square one
The Omicron surge put much of the work that had been done to bring awareness of community protection and enhancing accessibility back to square one for many disability advocates.
"I was talking to King County when Omicron came out, and I was asking, 'Are you going to push stores to have special shopping times again, for individuals with disabilities?' And there was no talk about it," Meck said.
"People were like, well, but why? And we were trying to explain that, here we are with an even deadlier variant, a strain that's killing more people, that's more highly contagious, and you're not trying to promote accessibility. So it's been really hit or miss, the reception that you get."
Last month CDC director Rochelle Walensky told ABC's Good Morning America that it was "really encouraging news" that 78% of vaccinated COVID-19 patients who died had four or more comorbidities, and that these patients "were unwell to begin with." The hashtag #MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy began trending on Twitter in response to and contesting Walensky's statement.
Walensky privately apologized to disability advocate organizations for the "hurtful, yet unintentional, statement pertaining to COVID-19 deaths and comorbidities," according to a statement from the CDC.
Now, with indoor mask mandates likely to end soon, Meck worries those at high risk may have to re-enter or continue self-isolation as a way to protect themselves from those who carry the coronavirus. This time, there are also fewer resources, like food delivery services, available to them than during earlier phases of the pandemic.
"It's twice as hard to find food resources, and medical appointments are few and far between. And who's actually ending up with the short end of the stick? It's the people who have state or government health care. It's the people who rely on food stamps," Meck said.
Of the 40 million people benefitting from SNAP programs, 26% have a disability, according to 2015 National Health Interview Survey data.
"When [the store brand] disappears off the shelves, although it may be the last thing to go... it just means it's gone. People who can only afford the store brand because that's what their WIC coupons will pay for... if those things are gone, then they can't afford the more expensive things."
Going forward, Meck encourages everyone to continue wearing masks as a way of protecting community members who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 illness and death. Meck also hopes that employers will continue to mandate masks as a way to accommodate their high-risk employees and clients.
"There's a lot of push for the fact that requiring employers to continue to have mask mandates indoors is actually a reasonable accommodation, and employers really can't push back on it, because it's little to no cost," said Meck.
"It really is a means to allow people with certain disabilities to continue to be part of society."