��������

Bellingham officials are urging a return to City Council meetings with an audience in attendance, and Whatcom County is testing a hybrid approach of in-person and online meetings as pandemic restrictions ease nationwide.

New coronavirus infection rates are falling rapidly as the COVID-19 omicron variant wanes after it surged in December 2021. Washington state is ending its indoor mask mandate on March 21 — two years after Gov. Jay Inslee issued the first pandemic restrictions in March 2020.

“We are recommending that you resume in-person meetings at your March 28, 2022, council meeting,” said a memo to the City Council from several department heads. “At that time, council can choose to meet in a hybrid setting. Appropriate technology has been installed that will allow council members to participate remotely. We also recommend that testimony for public hearings be conducted in-person,” said the memo, which was included with the council’s Feb. 28 meeting agenda.