(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — With the newest coronavirus variant making its way into the U.S., Illinois residents will have to endure the state’s indoor mask mandate a while longer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday.
Coronavirus cases were rising across Illinois even before the new Omicron variant became well known.
The statewide mask mandate remains in place until officials see coronavirus numbers headed back down, Pritzker said at an unrelated appearance in Chicago.
“What we’re watching is hospitalizations and the seriousness of illness,” he said.
The latest metrics suggest more than 11,000 news cases of coronavirus were reported over the past 24 hours in Illinois — almost double from the day before.
State health officials say COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising, with more than 2,500 people in hospitals. More than 40 people were reported to have died in Illinois within the past day.
Pritzker has been asked frequently about the mask mandate — which he re-imposed earlier this year — and whether it will be lifted.
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