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NOTE: Watch the Governor’s Press Conference live from 10:00 a.m. CT in the player above.
Governor JB Pritzker is expected to provide an update on COVID-19 on Thursday morning, where he is expected to announce new mitigation measures for the state as measures continue to rise.
The governor plans to issue a new indoor mask mandate for state residents, along with new rules regarding vaccinations and COVID testing for all teachers in public schools, a source with knowledge of the new measures said. mitigation to NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern.
The new indoor mask warrant, similar to warrants already rendered in Cook County and Chicago, will impact all residents of the state aged 2 and over. These residents will be required to wear face covers indoors, regardless of their COVID vaccination status.
In addition, Pritzker will announce a new mandate requiring teachers from kindergarten to college to receive the coronavirus vaccine or undergo weekly COVID testing through an enhanced protocols program, the source told NBC 5.
Illinois’ 102 counties see ‘high transmission’ levels of COVID-19 on Wednesday, meaning counties are seeing either 100 new or more cases of COVID per 100,000 residents each week or higher positivity rates at 10% on all COVID tests.
Based on those metrics, the CDC recommends that residents of those counties wear masks, but Pritzker’s order will go even further, requiring individuals to wear masks indoors, regardless of their immunization status.
The move is also prompted by the rapid increase in the number of patients requiring intensive care beds while battling COVID. In Region 5, located in southern Illinois and made up of 20 counties, only six of the region’s 86 intensive care beds are currently available, compared to just one available on Tuesday.
Authorities say 22 of 171 beds are currently available in Northwestern Illinois Region 1, while 21 are available in Region 3, which includes Springfield.
On Tuesday, Pritzker had warned of “significantly greater mitigations” if COVID measures did not start to decline statewide.
“We are constantly looking at the menu of options that we may have to impose in order to bring the numbers down,” Pritzker said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I remind you that if we can’t bring those numbers down, if hospitals keep filling up, if hospital beds and intensive care units are full like in Kentucky – it’s right next to Illinois – if that happens, we’re going to have to impose much bigger mitigation measures. “
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