Another State Plans to Jump off the Mask Mandate Train – Opinion

It appears that President Joe Biden will be joined by the other members of the Mask Mandat lobby soon. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, announced on Wednesday that he will rescind the state’s indoor mask mandate by Feb. 28. He stated that the masks would be mandatory in K-12 schools while he rescinds the state’s indoor mask mandate.

The Washington Examiner reported:

Pritzker is eighth governor of a blue-state to declare an end to indoor masking this week. Now that the pandemic appears to be calming, the governors realize that many people are eager to remove masks from their lives and return to normalcy. The governors are now moving towards the red state policies that were able to avoid restrictions and mandates for many months even before the omicron waves hit.

“We’re better than all of the states around us at keeping people healthy and safe and certainly out of the hospital during this last Omicron wave, in part because people wear their masks,” Pritzker explained. “The intention is to lift the mask mandate in the indoor locations by February 28.”

Pritzker continued:

“And that… of course, we still have the sensitive locations of K-12 schools, where we have lots of people who are, you know, joined together in smaller spaces, thousands of people interacting in one location at a time. And so that’s something that will come weeks hence. But very importantly, things are getting better across the state of Illinois.”

The state’s COVID-19 outlook is much better than it was previously. The Examiner

Illinois’s COVID-19 prognosis is looking significantly brighter than it did about a month ago, when more than 32,000 new cases on average were reported over seven days. In the week ended February 8, it has dropped to approximately 6,800 new daily cases. New York Times data shows that hospitalizations are down by 47% in Illinois compared to two weeks earlier.

The governor didn’t say when schools will be freed from masks, but he said he would make a announcement in the near future.

Pritzker’s announcement comes after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Delaware Governor. John Carney and Phil Murphy, both Democrats, announced that they will be repealing mask mandates within their respective states. There is an anti-mandate mood gaining momentum.

Pritzker has not yet made clear his intentions to remove mask mandates at schools. However, it’s not hard to envision that Pritzker will do so in the near future. America is heading towards a post-COVID era and even Democrats are recognizing they can’t push coronavirus restrictions forever. Many people believe that the time has come. Americans long for normalcy. The Democrats must accept the will of the people in this instance. It is clear. But I’m sure that for them, it was nice while it lasted.