Pritzker’s decision is because of the rising number of cases of the delta variant, with a number of kids getting it, and all the “noise” about it, according to sources.
The differing approaches school districts are taking is also a factor, sources said.
It will apply to all public and private schools, K-12.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike will be joining the governor at 2:30 p.m. at the Thompson Center.
Rebecca Fortner has two children in Villa Park’s School District 45. She said she’s relieved the governor is planning to mandate masks for all K through 12 students in the state.
“I wish he had done it sooner. I think a lot of us wished for that. I do worry about the enforcement of it,” she said.
Tuesday night in Villa Park there were heated words and tense moments.
The District 45 school board threatened to adjourn early after some in the audience refused to comply with the meeting’s mask requirement.
“It’s horrific that they’re injuring their own children with having to wear a mask. But even more horrific, you want to harm someone else’s child to have them have a mask on. That’s shame on you. Shame on you for doing that,” District 45 parent Bradley Donald said.
After a 45-minute delay, the meeting continued without mask enforcement. Later, there was an altercation in the hallway. One person was led away after appearing to suffer a panic attack.
Parent Tracey Gzamouranis worries it’s a sign of what’s to come when kids go back to school.
“Parents are gonna drop them off with no masks and tell them not to wear them and what did they see last night? They saw that it wasn’t enforced,” Gzamouranis said. “It’s a good thing. It needed to come from the top. It hadn’t. I’m glad it has now, but it almost seems as it’s a little late in our case. If it had been announced before last night, maybe all of it could have been avoided last night.
COVID vaccine Chicago: Business lead charge in requiring masks, shots
It used to be “no shirt, no shoes, no service,” but, with cases of COVID rising, some businesses are now saying “no shot, no service.”
Metro Chicago, a concert hall in Wrigleyville, just announced that anyone attending shows there will be required to show proof of vaccination, unlike Lollapalooza, which allowed unvaccinated people to enter by providing a current negative COVID test.
Metro also said patrons will be required to show a government-issued photo ID, and it’s recommended that everyone wear masks.
If you want to dine in restaurants and bars in NorthHalsted like D.S. Tequila Co. and Sidetrack, you better have proof of COVID vaccination, as it’s now required to get in.
More and more restaurants and nightclubs around the Chicago area are making that move as COVID cases once again surge, driven by the spread of the delta variant, especially in unvaccinated populations.
RELATED: Some Chicago restaurants requiring masks, COVID vaccinations as cases increase
The move to require masks and ask for vaccination status is supported by Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, even as she insisted the city has no plans yet to follow New York’s move to mandate proof of vaccination for all indoor dining and fitness centers.
“I want to thank them for doing that. It is clearly one of the most important things they can do for reducing the risk for everybody in the restaurant,” Arwady said.
The city is working on a way for people to digitally prove their vaccination status.
“We have a lot of people who lose their cards,” Arwady explained. “We want people where there are settings that are wanting to either mandate vaccines or be checking vaccines as folks are coming in. I want to make that as technologically easy as possible in a way that protects everybody’s privacy.”
The Illinois Restaurant Association hopes individual restaurants will be allowed to make their own decisions, and pointed out that restaurants operating at high capacity or that are in neighborhoods with lower vaccination rates would be catastrophically affected by a vaccine mandate.
“We’re still behind,” said Sam Sanchez. “Every time you open the door and you’re not operating at 100%, you’re losing money.”
Businesses see vaccine mandates as way to protect staff
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