NORMAL, Ill. – He’s trying to tout his other initiatives, like the ones outlined in his State of the State speech.
But, Governor J.B. Pritzker continues to be asked by reporters about COVID-19 — in this case, optimism given recent hospitalization data that his statewide mask mandate might be lifted.
“That’s really the metric that we are watching,” said Pritzker. “I’m very pleased with the direction. I’m pleased with the fact that we are nearly a third of where we were when we were at our peak.”
But, Pritzker says he’s almost ready to make a change in the mandate.
“Our hospitals are actually in much better shape now, in terms of being able to manage the other people who come to a hospital — people who are in a car accident, have a heart attack, something else,” said Pritzker. “So, those are measurements that we use. You’ll be hearing shortly about plans that we have.”
Pritzker, touting higher education-related proposals over at Illinois State University Monday, says if a mask mandate is lifted, it could be reinstated again if numbers go in the wrong direction.
