Masks

Three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks are now optional as of Monday at most Northwestern Medicine locations across northern Illinois, confirmed a health system spokesperson.

The Justice Department is filing an appeal seeking to overturn a judge’s order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes and trains and in travel hubs

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced Tuesday afternoon he was revising his executive order requiring masks on public transit, in public transit hubs, or in airports, bringing the state in line with a federal ruling from a Florida judge on Monday

A federal judge in Florida has voided the national mask mandate covering airplanes and other public transportation as exceeding the authority of U.S. health officials

The Biden administration has announced it will extend through May 3rd the nationwide mask requirement for public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases

Do you still have to wear a mask on a plane or train? Not for much longer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing guidance that will ease the nationwide mask mandate for public transit next month

The Illinois House amended COVID-19 protocols Tuesday, lifting face covering requirements following weeks of pushback from Republican members who sometimes refused to wear masks and delayed the start of session on several occasions

Face coverings will still be required in all clinical areas and when entering the Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Health and Wellness Center, but not required for vaccinated people within the fitness area.

Illinois is set to drop its statewide mask mandate Monday, marking the end of a nearly six-month period where masks were required to be worn indoors in many public places, including schools, businesses, restaurants and government chambers.

The Illinois State Supreme Court vacated the temporary restraining order on school masks issued by Judge Grischow on Friday. Gov. JB Pritzker said his school mask mandate will fall with the state indoor mask mandate, effective Monday

Come Monday, face masks will no longer be required inside the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, though judges retain the right to require masks for court proceedings if they choose, according to a circuit court order issued Friday.

The CDC is offering a color-coded map — with counties designated as orange, yellow or green — to help guide local officials and residents. In green counties, local officials can drop any indoor masking rules. Most counties in northern Illinois are green on the CDC's map.

The statewide indoor mask mandate in Illinois will officially come off Monday, February 28, Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release on Friday

The CDC on Friday will announce a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 case counts to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community

“We are still – and I want to be very clear about this – excluding students who are testing positive for COVID-19,” said Sycamore Superintendent Steve Wilder during a COVID-19 pandemic update to the school board this week.