People visiting Illinois courthouses may no longer be required to wear masks beginning Feb. 28, under updated rules.
On Feb. 22, the Illinois Supreme Court announced it was amending its standing order that formerly required masks be worn at all times in Illinois courtrooms and courthouses, except at the individual direction of a judge presiding in open court.
The new rule is tailored to coincide with Gov. JB Pritzker’s decision to lift Illinois’ statewide indoor mask mandate on Feb. 28.
Under the new Illinois Supreme Court rule, each circuit court would be free to impose its own COVID-related restrictions, including requiring the wearing of masks “pursuant to appropriate public health guidance,” the court said.
People visiting courthouses would be free to be able to choose to continue to wear masks, if they wish, the court said, though they may be required to remove the mask at the direction of a judge “if deemed necessary for court purposes, such as addressing the court or testifying.”
The latest courthouse mask mandate had been in place since Sept. 2, 2021, when the Illinois Supreme Court had amended its rules to specifically require all people, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask when entering courthouses throughout Illinois.
That order had also roughly coincided with Pritzker’s decision to similarly reimpose an indoor mask mandate statewide, citing a rise in COVID cases from the so-called delta variant of the virus.
Since the beginning of 2022, the state has witnessed a sustained rapid drop in COVID cases and hospitalizations, mirroring the trends elsewhere in the country, including in neighboring states which did not impose similar mask mandates, as the country recovers from its latest surge of the so-called omicron COVID variant.
That variant is said to produce milder symptoms than the delta variant, and significantly fewer hospitalizations.
Gov. Pritzker, however, has credited his mask mandates and other COVID-related restrictions for the sudden, rapid decrease in COVID cases and hospitalizations in Illinois.
Pritzker and Illinois health officials have been among the slowest in the country to lift COVID-related restrictions. Across the country, many states lifted all restrictions in 2021, while others, governed by Democrats, moved quickly to lift restrictions since the beginning of 2022.
In the meantime, polling data has indicated the mood of much of the country has shifted against such restrictions.
On Feb. 22, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the city would also lift its indoor mask mandate and COVID vaccine passport program on Feb. 28, as well, returning the city largely to pre-COVID normal life for all, regardless of vaccination status.