Gov. JB Pritzker to announce Illinois mask mandate changes Wednesday, source says

CHICAGO (WLS) — Sources briefed on the matter said Gov. JB Pritzker will announce plans Wednesday to start rolling back the statewide indoor mask mandate.

The source said the changes will impact malls, restaurants, bars and places of business, but not schools. Schools are governed by a separate mandate, and will be addressed separately.

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The changes will also not impact prisons or nursing homes, the source said, or healthcare facilities or public transit, which are under a federal mask mandate.

The governor reinstated the indoor mask mandate in late August after COVID hospitalizations started to rise again. The governor has always said the mask decision was driven by hospitalization data, and hospitalizations statewide have been falling consistently for the past seven days.

That has been the key metric the governor’s office has focused on in making mask mandate decisions.

The governor is expected to make the announcement Wednesday afternoon.