FACE FACTS: MASKS BACK
Chicago will require face coverings for everyone in indoor public settings starting Friday
Facing rising coronavirus case numbers, Chicago public health officials did an aboutface Tuesday and announced a return to an indoor mask mandate some three months after lifting it.
Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said starting Friday, face coverings will be required in Chicago stores, restaurants and other public spaces — for all people over the age of 2, regardless of the person’s vaccination status.
“With Chicago passing 400 cases per day, we have seen that metric move into higher risk,” Arwady said at a City Hall news conference. “With that move into higher risk, we did want to take additional action.”
Chicago now is averaging 444 new cases per day, and being consistently above 400 means that “masks are now required in indoor public settings in Chicago.”
Though the daily caseload is up, Arwady noted that the rest of the primary COVID-19 metrics remain lower risk, including the city’s test positivity rate — which checked in at 4.5% — and its hospitalization figures, which are relatively low.
Arwady said the mask mandate will remain in place until the city’s daily caseload remains below the 400 case-per-day threshold “consistently,” or for one to two weeks. At that point, the mandate will be downgraded back to a recommendation, the city’s top public health official said.
“Our goal is to stay open,” Arwady said. “I don’t expect that this will be an indefinite forever mask requirement.”
Arwady said she doesn’t expect to have to hand down further restrictions or business limits, but warned that if metrics rise into “very high risk” territory, officials might consider imposing indoor capacity limits.
Arwady said eventually enforcing a vaccine mandate like those implemented in several other major cities like New York and San Francisco is not “entirely off the table.”
“We’re not considering a mandate of this at this point, but I think I want to see what happens in some of these other cities,” Arwady said.
Kenneth Meyer, acting commissioner of the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said the mask mandate would apply, among other places, to bars, restaurants, health clubs and common areas of condominiums and apartment buildings. He added that masks are also recommended, though not required, in crowded outdoor settings.
Meyer said his department will communicate the guidelines to businesses and offer training Thursday morning and again Friday afternoon. Business owners not in compliance likely will get just a warning but “obviously, if there’s something egregious,” the owner would be cited, Meyer said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he was “pleased” with the city’s decision to reinstate an indoor mask mandate, adding that that mitigation can “be vital for just furthering the goals that we have to keep everyone safe and healthy.”
At an unrelated news conference in Springfield, Pritzker didn’t say if he might implement a face covering requirement statewide, though the coronavirus is spreading at an alarming rate.
All but four of the state’s 102 counties fall into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s color-coded red “high transmission” category. And three of the remaining four — Whiteside and Lee in western Illinois, and nearby Putnam — are only one category below that, the “substantial transmission” category.
Earlier this month, Pritzker issued a statewide mask requirement for schools. The Democratic governor hasn’t provided an end date for when students, teachers and staff would be able to ditch the face coverings, saying “this virus tends to have cycles to it and variants,” and that face coverings are one way to keep people “safe and healthy in our schools.”
Earlier Tuesday, the League of Chicago Theatres announced its own guidelines, including a mask requirement, saying the venues in its coalition would require audience members to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID test results to gain entry to participating theaters. The protocols will be in effect Sept. 1 through Dec. 31.
Also, the league members will require masks to be worn at all times throughout the performances and throughout the venues, though with the city mandate, the league’s guidance may be moot. The new guidelines also apply to all performers, staff and crew at each participating theater.