Pritzker: Mask fight is for next emergency

As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to plummet in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker said he’s fighting a court ruling on his mask and COVID-19 vaccine requirements to provide clarity for the state’s next emergency.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a petition for appeal Tuesday on behalf of Pritzker, officially asking the Supreme Court to review the state’s mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigations for schools.

A number of schools across the state dropped their mask requirements after a Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month against the mandates.

Pritzker plans to lift the state’s indoor mask mandate on Monday, but wants a little more time for schools, where vaccination rates are lower and some students are not yet eligible for the shot.

“I’ve said for several weeks now that we would be removing the requirement for masks in schools,” Pritzker said Wednesday at an unrelated press conference. “This is really about what do we do in the next emergency?”

As of Tuesday, 1,232 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, down 99 from Monday and down 451 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 250 were in intensive care units, up 15 from Monday and down 63 from the prior week. There were 118 patients on ventilators, down 18 from Monday and 35 from the prior week.

IDPH reported 2,733 new COVID-19 cases and 86 new deaths on Wednesday.

The new cases bring the state total to 3,022,684, while the death toll increased to 32,517.

The seven-day average for new cases on Tuesday was 2,100, down 1,601 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 49, down 22 from the prior week.

The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests is 1.9 percent. The seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests is 2.6 percent.

About 80.6 percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 71.4 percent are fully vaccinated.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 21,042,269 COVID-19 vaccines, per state data, including 4,122,055 booster doses. The seven-day average of doses administered is 18,250.