(WBBM NEWSRADIO) —The Illinois mask requirement will be lifted for most indoor public places as of Monday Feb. 28, if statewide COVID-19 metrics continue to plunge, Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday.
The first-term Democrat became the latest state executive to outline plans to phase out face-covering requirements, which have divided U.S. residents, especially in the recent stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Illinoisans will no longer be expected to wear masks in indoor places such as bars and restaurants, supermarkets, gyms and entertainment venues, but local jurisdictions and business owners may impose stricter COVID guidelines as they see fit, Pritzker said.
“Doing what ’s right in your private business or your local community is encouraged,” Pritzker said.
Residents will probably want to keep a mask with them as they navigate different settings, the governor said.
Masks will still be required at hospitals and on public transportation. Also, the governor said, his administration will try to preserve the mask mandate at K-12 schools in Illinois, for now, even though a legal ruling in Springfield last week effectively canceled it.
A legal challenge from the Pritzker Administration is pending. Pritzker argues that schools are crowded settings that will require a higher bar of health safety, at least for the near future.
"Schools are unlike most other environments," he said. "There are far lower vaccination rates for school-age children than adults; higher exposure on a daily basis to younger children, who aren't yet vaccine-eligible, and more difficulty maintaining distance in hallways and gyms and classrooms.
The equation for schools just looks different right now than it does for the general population. Schools need a little more time."
Illinois Public Health Director Nogzi Ezike, who called the pandemic that began in 2020 a “rollercoaster ride that nobody asked to get on,” cautioned that COVID-19 has not and will not disappear altogether. She said vaccines and therapies will help Illinois move forward, but masks will still be necessary in some circumstances. Also, the federal government has mask requirements for some of its buildings, she said.
Pritzker said now that a surge of Omicron-related cases of coronavirus has subsided, the state has 20% of its ICU beds available, compared with 8% four weeks ago.
“We are now seeing the fastest rate of decline in our COVID-19 hospitalization metrics since the pandemic began,” the governor said.
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