Gov. Pritzker announces plan to lift indoor mask mandate on Feb. 28; Comments on lifting school masking in coming weeks
HUNTLEY – Gov. JB Pritzker announced on Feb. 9, that his administration plans to lift the indoor mask requirement in the State of Illinois beginning on Feb. 28 due to seeing the fastest rate of decline in COVID-19 hospitalization metrics since the pandemic began.
However, Pritzker made it a point to add that mask requirements will continue to be enforced where it is federally mandated, such as on public transit and in high-risk settings including healthcare facilities and congregate care. Masking requirements will also continue to apply in all daycare settings.
“I want to be clear: Many local jurisdictions, businesses, and organizations have their own mask requirements and other mitigations that must be respected. Throughout this pandemic, we’ve deployed the tools available to us as needed. Our approach has saved lives and kept our economy open and growing,” said Pritzker in a press release statement.
The news comes just after Sangamon County Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow ruled that the state had overstepped its authority to enforce masking and other COVID-19 mitigations in P-12 schools.
Grischow granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) for the plaintiffs listed in the massive lawsuit filed against Pritzker and other state agencies, forcing many school districts across Illinois to change their COVID-19 mitigation plans to abide by the TRO.
Although Pritzker later announced he planned on appealing the court ruling with the assistance of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, he’s made mention on his personal Twitter account of other steps he plans to take in regards to masking in schools.
“In the coming weeks, it’s my hope and expectation that we will continue making progress to a place where we can remove school masking requirements and keep kids in school,” Pritzker wrote on Twitter.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Illinois continues to lead the Midwest in people who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 75.7% of individuals reported as having received their first vaccination.
“While masks will no longer be required in most indoor locations beginning February 28, they are still recommended,” said Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “Masks offer a layer of protection and for people who have an underlying health condition or who are around those who do, you may choose to continue wearing a mask. Similarly, if you find yourself in a crowded, indoor setting, a mask can still help protect you. We will continue to recommend masks.”
Pritzker and his administration state that schools need more time for community infection rates to drop, for young children to become vaccine eligible, and for more parents to have their kids vaccinated.
Pritzker maintains that masks will continue to be required in P-12 school districts that are not listed in the pending litigation.
“Preparing to repeal statewide masking mandates at the end of the month is aggressive and optimistic but reasonable,” said Dr. Emily Landon, University of Chicago Medicine executive medical director of infection prevention and control. “Broad mandates are not about individuals. They are put in place to help protect communities, businesses, and healthcare access. Repealing the mask mandate allows people to choose the mitigation layers that are best for them and I have no doubt that many should and will choose to keep mask rules.”
Despite masks now being optional for some children and teachers at certain school districts, parents must be aware that school buses are still subject to a federal mask requirement for transit systems issued by the CDC and based on President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 13998 which was enacted last January.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) further implements the CDC order with their own security directive that has extended the face mask requirement for all transportation networks, including public transportation, through March 18.
“Continuing to protect children and reduce spread in schools and congregate care settings while cautiously phasing out mask requirements in public spaces as case rates decline and hospital capacity increases, is a commonsense, science-based approach,” said Dr. Seth Trueger, a Northwestern emergency physician who is also immunocompromised. “Masking has helped slow the spread even in the face of omicron’s transmissibility. We can and must use this time to further increase vaccination uptake & outreach, especially among children and other populations with low vaccination rates, so when the next wave comes, we will be even better prepared.”
