CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- While Governor Pritzker is lifting his indoor mask mandate in most businesses in less than three weeks, the medical experts guiding him are pushing people to still wear them at times.
Many people have asked Governor Pritzker and his advisers where the state needs to be to rescind all restrictions. Dr. Emily Landon, an infectious disease specialist at UChicago Medicine, said physicians and scientists don’t agree which measurement to use.
"Each wave of this pandemic has had different characteristics, different behavior, and no single metric has been able to reliably predict the outcomes and the trajectory of each of the variants," Dr. Landon said.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike praised people for getting vaccinated and wearing masks to help the state’s hospitalization rate drop faster than ever since the pandemic began.
"Your actions that you have already taken have helped to reduce the amount of virus circulating and it absolutely has saved lives...But be clear, COVID is not gone," Dr. Ezike said. "And it will not be gone on Feb. 28."
Dr. Landon encouraged people to enjoy the break the state appears to be headed for, but pointed out the virus can still be deadly for some people.
"If you find yourself sweeping away the news of a COVID-related death because that person had underlying medical conditions, ask your doctor what your chart says about you," she said.
Both doctors encouraged people to continue to wear masks in large settings, as we learn to coexist with COVID-19. Dr. Ezike suggested using more filters to improve indoor air quality.
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