Prairie State Wire

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared he has no intentions of lifting the state’s mask mandate anytime soon.

With the state’s current order not slated to end until June, Pritzker is urging residents to continue masking up, even as COVID-19 infection rates are declining across much of the country.

Even with this decline, Pritzker said residents need to remain diligent as variant strains of the virus are continuing to pop up in different places, and more individuals seek to get vaccinated.

Over the last month, governors from Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Montana, and Iowa have lifted mandates. Each of these governors declares they are thoroughly convinced they are no longer needed to help stop the spread of the virus.

Since the virus hit early last year, Pritzker’s handling of the pandemic has sparked much debate, with many blasting the shutdown restrictions he imposed and extended through executive action with no input from other lawmakers.