(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday said he expects confusion over the state's COVID-19 school mask mandate to be cleared up soon by appellate judges.
“We're going to hear from the appellate court, I would hope, relatively shortly, and have a little more clarity, despite the Sangamon County judge’s ruling,” he said at a public appearance.
A Sangamon County judge earlier this month blocked the governor’s mask mandate for some schools named in a lawsuit. The Illinois Department of Public Health attempted to issue an emergency order, but a bipartisan rules committee shot that down Tuesday.
Pritzker said schools that aren’t named in the lawsuit are subject to the executive mask order.
“I think that a majority of parents in the State of Illinois, and across the country, believe that we need to keep a mask requirement in schools until it becomes safer,” he said.
Pritzker said the next step is to hear from the appellate court and “go from there.”
The governor anticipates lifting the state’s indoor mask mandate for public gathering places on Feb. 28 but has said K-12 schools are different. Pritzker said it could be weeks more for the mask mandate to be lifted for them.
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