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Gov. Pritzker announces new mask compliance rules

The Illinois Department of Public Health has filed emergency rules for businesses, schools and child care centers that mandate face coverings and the size of gatherings and will impose penalties for those not complying.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said through Senate Bill 471 the new regulations he signed into law Friday, Aug. 7, are meant to help protect workers who continue to serve on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. The measure took effect immediately. 

To directly protect workers in retail, the law adds a penalty for assaulting or battering a retail worker who is conveying public health guidance, such as requiring patrons to wear face coverings or promoting social distancing. This provision sends the message that it’s vitally important for workers to be both respected and protected.

Pritzker said the rules provide multiple opportunities for compliance before any penalty is issued, giving local health departments and local law enforcement more leeway to support community public health in a productive manner. 

While existing, pre-pandemic enforcement laws, like revoking a license, are stringent and severe, the governor said these rules provide flexibility for local communities and a measured process to help keep people safe. 

That process is as follows:

  • First, businesses will be given a warning in the form of a written notice and encouraged to voluntarily comply with public health guidance.
  • Second, businesses that do not voluntarily comply will be given an order to have some or all of their patrons leave the premises as needed to comply with public health guidance and reduce risks.
  • Third, if the business continues to refuse to comply, the business can receive a Class-A misdemeanor and be subject to a fine ranging from $75 to $2,500.

These rules do not apply to individuals and penalties will not exceed a misdemeanor and the  $75 to $2,500 fine. 

The emergency rules also reinforce the authority of IDPH and local health departments to investigate COVID-19 cases and reaffirm that businesses have a responsibility to cooperate with those investigations.

“As I’ve visited with and listened to mayors and health departments all across our state, it’s clear there is still an even greater need to get people to wear masks – especially to protect frontline workers, whether they’re at the front of a store asking you to put on your mask or whether they’re responding to 911 calls to save those in distress,” the governor said.

“These rules, which provide multiple opportunities for compliance before any penalty is issued, are a commonsense way to enforce public health guidelines. Illinois has made substantial progress in our fight against COVID-19 because the vast majority of communities and business owners have done the right thing,” Pritzker said. 

“These rules will help ensure that the minority of people who refuse to act responsibly won’t take our state backward,” he stressed.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said, “We know that face coverings are key to helping prevent the spread of COVID-19, but it only works if everyone wears them.

“We are seeing cases increasing each day and hearing about people not complying with the masking mandate.  This rule is an effort to help keep all of us healthy and decrease the risk of contracting COVID-19,” she said.

The law also increases paid disability leave for any injury that occurs after March 9, 2020 by 60 days for firefighters, law enforcement and paramedics whose recovery was hindered by COVID-19.

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