Today, Governor Pritzker announced a universal mask mandate for Illinois schools for all inside activities, regardless of vaccination status. While we anticipate more detail to follow from ISBE and/or IDPH in the days ahead, a few key preliminary takeaways from his press conference are:
- While indoors, masks are required for all individuals, both vaccinated and unvaccinated.
- Mask exemptions for medical conditions remain available.
- Schools must enforce the mask mandate.
- There is no mask requirement for outdoor athletic activities, though additional protocols for student-athletes were recommended.
The Governor’s announcement was followed by his issuance of a new Executive Order 2021-18, which reestablishes the mask mandate announced at the press conference. Note that the ISBE/IDPH’s COVID FAQ document has not been updated on the IDPH website yet, but we anticipate that may be further updated to align with and potentially clarify today’s mandate.
As always, we will continue to monitor and keep you apprised of the latest COVID updates as you plan for the school year ahead.
