By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said the state’s coronavirus cases have declined enough to lift the indoor mask mandate at public places by the end of the month.
But, the governor said he has no plans to drop the requirement for schools.
“The equation for schools just looks different right now than it does for the general population,” Pritzker said Wednesday at a news conference held at the Thompson Center in Chicago. “Schools need a little more time for community infection rates to drop, for our youngest learners to become vaccine eligible and for more parents to get their kids vaccinated.”
Related: COVID hospitalizations in Rockford fall 34%
Pritzker’s ability to enforce the mask mandate in schools was called into question last week when a Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order that prevents certain schools from being forced to comply with the rule.
“Schools are unlike most other environments,” Pritzker said. “There are far lower vaccination rates for school-aged 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 classes.”
The indoor mask mandate will be lifted on Feb. 28 if the current downward trend in cases continues, Pritzker said.
That means masks won’t be required in grocery stores, restaurants and other public places, although they are still required on mass transit such as buses and airplanes, inside hospitals and some other settings such as federal buildings, congregate areas of nursing homes in areas of high transmission.
“Masks offer a layer of protection, and for people who have an underlying condition or who are around people who do have that condition, or for those who are around children who are too young to be vaccinated, you absolutely may choose to continue wearing a mask,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “Similarly, if you find yourself in a crowded indoor setting, a mask will continue to help protect you. We will continue to recommend masks.”
The governor’s announcement comes as coronavirus cases across the state and country have fallen from an omicron-driven surge at the start of the year. Democratic governors across the country have started to reduce restrictions.
Statewide there have been more than 2.9 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 31,679 confirmed deaths from the disease, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Hospitalizations from the virus have fallen to 2,496 statewide from the peak of 7,380 on Jan. 12.
In Winnebago County, there have been 74,468 confirmed cases of the virus including 768 deaths from the disease, according to IDPH.
Hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Rockford have reduced for four straight weeks to 107 patients at last week’s end. There have not been fewer than 100 coronavirus patients in Rockford’s three hospitals at week’s end since Nov. 11. The Winnebago County Health Department reports that figure once each week on Fridays.
The statewide mask mandate for indoor public places regardless of vaccination status has been in effect since Aug. 30. It was put in place at that time after being lifted for two months because of a late summer surge driven by the delta variant.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.