Pritzker halts Illinois’ school mask mandate with arrival of new CDC guidance

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said new federal COVID-19 guidance unveiled Friday will allow the state of Illinois to remove its school mask mandate on Monday, coinciding with the halting of the hotly debated virus mitigation strategy for the general public.

Pritzker also applauded the Illinois Supreme Court, which earlier in the day sent a case challenging the mandate back to a downstate court. The high court had refused to take up the appeal after finding that an order by a Springfield judge that caused chaos and confusion in Illinois schools over masking was no longer in effect.

“I’m gratified that the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s restraining order, meaning that if a school mask mandate needs to go into effect in the future, we continue to have that authority,” Pritzker said.

“I’m also extremely pleased to say that because the CDC has recommended that masks are needed only in areas of high transmission, the state of Illinois will move forward to remove our school mask mandate, effective Monday,” Pritzker said. “We will recommend that all school districts follow CDC guidance and will update our existing guidance in the coming days.”

The Illinois Supreme Court order issued late Friday found that a Springfield judge’s Feb. 4 order preventing statewide enforcement of the mask mandate should be vacated because a lower appellate court recently found the case to be moot.

It was unclear what impact the high court’s ruling would have on the children of hundreds of parents who sued the governor and Illinois Department of Public Health over the rules, saying that they violated the students’ due process rights.

But with Pritzker’s announcement the state’s mask mandate for schools would end Monday, the legal wrangling could soon become a nonissue.

As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer urging masking indoors for the general public in most settings, including schools, in areas where COVID-19 poses a “low” or “medium” risk to the general public and the local health care system.

That currently covers more than three-quarters of Illinois counties, with the entire Chicago area falling into the “low” category. At the “medium” level, it’s recommended that people who are at high risk talk with their doctors about whether they should continue masking or take other precautions, CDC officials said.

The end of the state’s school mask mandate is arriving a week after an appellate court sidelined the governor’s attempt to enforce his COVID-19 mitigation orders for Illinois schools statewide.