Illinois’ indoor mask mandate comes off Monday, Gov. Pritzker says

The statewide indoor mask mandate in Illinois will officially come off Monday, February 28, Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release on Friday.

Citing COVID-19 hospitalizations that continue to fall, Pritzker said hospitals are in a much better position than they were during the height of the omicron surge. Hospitalizations were below 1,200 patients for the first time since August, as of late Wednesday, and continued to drop as of late Thursday.

“Throughout this pandemic, we’ve taken action to save lives and keep our economy open – and I’m proud that Illinoisans have done the hard work that has our made our state a leader in the Midwest,” Pritzker said. “Today, our hospitals are much better positioned to handle emergencies and more than half of all eligible adults have been boosted; this is the progress we needed to make to remove our state indoor masking requirements. As individuals, I encourage everyone to make the best choices going forward to protect your health, along with that of your family and community – and most importantly to treat each other with kindness and compassion.”

Masks will still be required where federally mandated (including on public transit), health care facilities, congregate settings, long term care facilities, and daycare settings. Additionally, private businesses and municipalities may choose to implement their own masking requirements. 

Schools are urged to continue following state and federal guidance to help keep students and staff safe in the classroom.

“The Governor will review the results of lifting the indoor mask mandate before making any announcement regarding the school mask mandate,” according to a news release, despite hundreds of districts across the state going masks optional in the past couple of weeks after a Sangamon County judge issued a temporary restraining order against the governor’s school mask mandate.

State numbers: The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,074 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 74 additional deaths Friday.

The state’s seven-day rolling average for new cases dropped to 1,861 new cases per day, the lowest average since August 1.

For Thursday, the state administered 13,136 shots.

The state received the results of 151,528 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon. The state’s positivity rate dropped to 1.8%

Illinois has seen 3,026,737 total cases of the virus, and 32,654 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 54,338,979 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 1,143 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, the fewest number of patients since August 2. Of those, 211 were in intensive care units, the fewest since July 31 and 103 were on ventilators.

Vaccine update: As of Friday, IDPH reported a total of 23,808,265 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 21,070,546 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 8,106,913 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 63.63%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Also, 4,132,741 people have received a booster dose, or 32.43% of the state’s population. Among 5- to 11-year-olds, 39.19% have received at least one vaccine dose and 32.99% are fully vaccinated.

CDC numbers:

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,533,429 (71.6%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,622,567 (80.7%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,156,321 (75.3%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,168,476 (84.6%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,535,758 (76.5%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,473,021 (86%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,785,140 (87.4%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,962,891 (95%)

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from healthcare providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

Chicago: 66.55%

Suburban Cook: 70.91%

Lake: 67.97%

McHenry: 64.29%

DuPage: 73.94%

Kane: 64.49%

Will: 65.06%

Kendall: 67.21%

La Salle: 57.26%

Grundy: 56.44%

DeKalb: 55.42%

Ogle: 55.84%

Lee: 57.53%

Whiteside: 50.82%

Bureau: 55.58%

Regional update: All 11 regions in the state are in Phase 5.

Regional data from the IDPH remains on a three-day lag.

The North Suburban (McHenry and Lake counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.5%. Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average decreased to 4.3%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 3.2%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to a total of 74 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.3%. Currently, 29% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 3.4%, and DuPage County’s stayed flat at 3.3%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 109 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.2%. Currently, 24% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 51 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The North (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 3.9%.

Currently, 16% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate fell to 3.0%, Lee County’s rate decreased to 1.7%, and Whiteside County’s went down to 3.8%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 84 total COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The North-Central (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 3.2%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 3.2%. Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the past 10 days. The region is down to a total of 137 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate stayed flat at 1.4%. Currently, 17% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for 10 out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate stayed flat at 2.1%. Currently, 19% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.