CHICAGO — Just shy of the second anniversary of his proclamation declaring the coronavirus a statewide disaster, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will try again to turn the page on COVID-19 restrictions Monday when he lifts his much-contested mask mandate for most indoor public places.
Masks still will be mandatory on public transportation and in places such as hospitals and day care centers, and businesses still can require them as they see fit.
But the end of mandatory masking in most settings represents a big step in getting back to normal, even though it comes as the highly unpredictable virus remains in wide circulation.
