Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has reinstated a mask mandate for the state, which requires masks inside for residents, saying the state “is running out of time as our hospitals run out of beds. ”
The new indoor mask warrant, similar to warrants already issued in Cook and Chicago counties, will begin Monday and will require face-to-face coverage indoors, regardless of the state of vaccination against COVID.
“Illinois will join several states that have reinstated statewide mask requirements on Monday, regardless of the state of vaccination,” Pritzker said. “Masks work. Period.”
In addition, Pritzker also announced a new mandate that requires teachers, health care workers, and higher education students to receive the coronavirus vaccine or undergo weekly COVID testing through an enhanced protocol program.
Pritzker added that the mandate will take effect on September 5th. Those who remain unvaccinated will need to be tested for COVID-19 at least once a week, but may require additional testing in some cases, such as outbreaks.
Pritzker said the delta variant “is causing increasing concern about our hospital capacity in Illinois communities.”
“Let’s be clear, vaccination is the most effective tool we have to keep people out of the hospital and prevent death,” he said.
Pritzker, calling it “a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” said “you don’t have to be an epidemiologist to understand what’s going on here.”
As of Wednesday, all 102 counties in Illinois are experiencing “high transmission” levels of COVID-19, meaning that counties see 100 or more new cases of COVID per 100,000 residents each week or have higher positivity rates. at 10% in all COVID tests.
Under these parameters, it is recommended that residents of these counties wear masks by the CDC, but Pritzker’s order will go a step further, requiring people to wear masks indoors, regardless of the state of vaccination.
The decision is also driven by a rapid increase in the number of patients in need of ICU beds while battling COVID. In Region 5, located in southern Illinois and made up of 20 counties, only six of the 86 ICU beds in the region are available, compared to only one available on Tuesday.
Officials say 22 of 171 beds are currently available in region 1 of northwest Illinois, while 21 are available in region 3, which includes Springfield.
On Tuesday, Pritzker had warned of “significantly greater mitigations” if COVID metrics did not begin to decline statewide.
“We’re constantly looking at the menu of options we might have to impose to reduce numbers,” Pritzker said during a news conference Tuesday. “I’ll remind you that if we’re not able to cut those numbers, if hospitals keep filling up, if hospital beds and ICUs fill up like they’re in Kentucky – that’s right next to Illinois.” if that happens, it will have to impose significantly greater mitigations. “