Chicago announces indoor mask mandate for everyone, including vaccinated

Beginning Friday, August 20, the City of Chicago is mandating an indoor mask mandate for everyone above two. According to NBC Chicago, all residents, regardless of their vaccination status, will have to wear masks indoors.

"With the highly transmissible Delta variant causing case rates to increase, now is the time to re-institute this measure to prevent further spread and save lives," said CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady in a statement on Tuesday. "We continue to track the data closely and are hopeful this will only be temporary, and we can bend the COVID curve, as we've done in the past."

"Similar to previous mask mandates, masks can be removed at restaurants, bars and other eating/drinking establishments by patrons when they are actively eating and drinking," said Arwady. "Masks can also be removed for certain activities that require their removal, such as beard shaves or facials."

She added that masks can be removed by employees in settings that are not open to the public, or if employees are static and maintaining at least six feet from all other individuals, like in office cubicles.

This announcement comes as Chicago is averaging over 400 new COVID-19 cases per day. As a result, the City feels it necessary to enact restrictive measures, despite Hospitalizations being down 18 percent from last week. Deaths are also down 24 percent.