Executive Order 2022-06

WHEREAS, since early March 2020, Illinois has faced a pandemic that has caused extraordinary sickness and loss of life, infecting over 3,031,200, and taking the lives of more than 32,700 residents; and,

WHEREAS, as Illinois continues to respond to the public health disaster caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel severe acute respiratory illness that spreads rapidly through respiratory transmissions, the burden on residents, healthcare providers, first responders, and governments throughout the State has been unprecedented; and,

WHEREAS, protecting the health and safety of Illinoisans is among the most important functions of State government; and,

WHEREAS, numerous variants have emerged over the course of the pandemic, each with different transmissibility and degrees of severity; and,

WHEREAS, predicting what will happen in the future in this pandemic is a difficult task, and could mean that proven pandemic mitigations such as social distancing, face coverings and other public health precautions that are critical to slowing and stopping the spread of COVID-19 may be required again; and,

WHEREAS, the State of Illinois has seen vast improvement in recent weeks of hospitalizations and transmission; and

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued revised guidance on February 25, 2022, to lift its recommendation for universal indoor masking, including in K-12 settings; and,

WHEREAS, that guidance provided a framework for assessing community COVID-19 levels based on COVID-19 hospital admissions, inpatient bed availability, and number of COVID-19 cases; and,

WHEREAS, the CDC’s guidance now only recommends universal masking in communities with high community COVID-19 levels; and,

WHEREAS, the CDC continues to advise that some community settings, such as schools and high-risk congregate settings may require additional layers of prevention based on the characteristics of the setting and in the event of an outbreak; and,

WHEREAS, even without a State mandate, K-12 schools, childcare facilities, and other settings may choose to require individuals to wear face masks based on the community COVID-19 level and other characteristics of the setting; and,

WHEREAS, some employers have entered collective bargaining agreements that continue to require individuals to wear face masks in certain settings; and,

WHEREAS, the CDC continues to recommend that individuals who are immunocompromised or high risk for severe disease consider wearing a well-fitting mask indoors in public when the community COVID-19 level is high; and,

WHEREAS, the CDC continues to recommend that people with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 wear a mask; and,

WHEREAS, individuals may choose to wear a mask at any time; and,

WHEREAS, on February 4, 2022, considering the expected continuing spread of COVID-19 and the ongoing health and economic impacts that that will be felt over the coming month by people across the State, I declared all counties in the State of Illinois as a disaster area;

THEREFORE, by the powers vested in me as the Governor of the State of Illinois, pursuant to the Illinois Constitution and Sections 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), 7(8), 7(9), and 7(12) of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, 20 ILCS 3305, and consistent with the powers in public health laws, I hereby order the following, effective February 28, 2022:

Section 1: Definitions.

1. “Healthcare settings” means places where healthcare is delivered and includes, but is not limited to, acute care facilities, long-term acute-care facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes, home healthcare, vehicles where healthcare is delivered (e.g., mobile clinics and ambulances), and outpatient facilities, such as dialysis centers, physician offices, dental offices, ambulatory surgical treatment centers, and others.
2. “Long-term care facilities” means skilled and intermediate long-term care facilities licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the ID/DD Community Care Act of the MC/DD Act; Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Facilities; assisted living facilities; and supportive living facilities.

Section 2: Face Covering Requirements.

1. Sections 1(a) and 2(a) of Executive Order 2021-18 and Section 1 of Executive Order 2021-22 are hereby rescinded.
2. All long-term care facilities in Illinois must continue to follow guidance issued by the CDC and IDPH regarding the use of face coverings in congregate facilities for those who are over the age of two and able to medically tolerate a face covering.
3. All individuals, regardless of vaccination status, shall continue to be required to wear a face covering (1) where federally required; (2) on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transportation and in transportation hubs such as airports and train and bus stations; (3) in congregate facilities such as correctional facilities and homeless shelters; and (4) in healthcare settings. This provision does not apply to buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including buses or vans operated by early care and education/child care programs.
4. Nothing in this Executive Order prohibits an individual from choosing to wear a face covering or a public or private entity from choosing to require face coverings in certain settings.
5. Nothing in this Executive Order impacts the applicability of a collective bargaining agreement regarding face coverings.

Section 3: Savings Clause. If any provision of this Executive Order or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, this invalidity does not affect any other provision or application of this Executive Order, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. To achieve this purpose, the provisions of this Executive Order are declared to be severable.

                                                                                                JB Pritzker, Governor

Issued by the Governor February 28, 2022

Filed by the Secretary of State February 28, 2022