Pritzker Imposing Statewide Mask Mandate, Vaccination Requirement for Teachers and Healthcare Workers
Governor JB Pritzker announced a new statewide indoor mask mandate Thursday and a requirement for teachers and staff at schools to receive the COVID vaccine.
Governor JB Pritzker is bringing back a statewide indoor mask order and requiring teachers, school employees, university employees, and health care workers to get vaccinated or face regular COVID-19 testing.
Pritzker announced the latest action amid a spike in Delta variant cases across the state, leaving many areas critically short of available ICU beds.
The state reports IDPH region 5, in Southern Illinois, has the lowest vaccination rate in the state at 44 percent. In that 20 county area, only 3% of ICU beds are available as the region experiences the highest case rate in the state. Since August 1st, local health departments across the state have reported 27 COVID-19 outbreaks at schools and currently hundreds of schools are being monitored for potential COVID-19 exposures.
“We are running out of time as our hospitals run out of beds,” Pritzker said. “Vaccination remains our strongest tool to protect ourselves and our loved ones, to restore post-pandemic life to our communities, and most crucially, to maintain our healthcare system’s ability to care for anyone who walks through their doors in need of help.”
People over the age of two will be required to wear a mask in all indoor settings, effective Monday, August 30th. The requirement is applicable to both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents statewide. Pritzker said the vaccine means the whole state should be under the same rules, though the vaccine didn’t exist when he put the mask mandate in place statewide last May.
In another departure from most mitigations last year, Pritzker declined to discuss exactly what metrics would be used to roll back the new mandates. Many previous mitigations required thresholds for rules to go in place or be relaxed.