Illinois Brings Back Statewide Indoor Mask Mandate, Effective Monday

Written By Joe Boozell on August 30, 2021
illinois casinos masks

Illinois Governor The domestic mask requirement will resume on Monday thanks to JB Pritzker.

This implies that all patrons of Illinois casinos are required to wear a mask, irrespective of whether they’ve been vaccinated or not. This decision has been made as Illinois is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 delta variant cases.

Over the weekend, DraftKings at Casino Queen and Jumer’s Casino and Hotel gave a heads up to their patrons:

Currently, Illinois has lifted all indoor capacity restrictions, allowing all 10 of the state’s casinos to operate at full capacity.

Pritzker cautioned last week that additional mitigations might be necessary if COVID-19 metrics do not decrease.

“We are continuously reviewing the list of strategies we may need to adopt in order to decrease the numbers. I want to make it clear that if we fail to decrease these numbers, and hospitals continue to reach capacity, with ICU and general beds as full as they are in Kentucky – which neighbors Illinois – we will have to enforce significantly stricter measures.”

As of last year, all 102 counties in Illinois have reported cases of COVID-19, with high transmission rates. Pritzker warns that the state is on the brink of a crisis, as our hospitals are becoming overwhelmed.

The government also urged residents of Illinois to receive vaccinations.

Just to clarify, the vaccination is our most effective resource for preventing fatalities and keeping patients out of hospitals.

White Sox face guidelines for the Cubs receive an update

Previously, the Cubs and White Sox did not mandate vaccinated individuals to wear masks. However, fans are now required to wear masks in certain situations at both Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, irrespective of their vaccination status.

The official policy of the Cubs states:

The Chicago Department of Public Health is mandating that everyone over the age of 2 wear a face covering in public indoor settings, unless actively eating or drinking, while seated, in accordance with updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention( CDC ) and based on Chicago & rsquo’s current COVID – 19 data. All Wrigley Field visitors who are not fully immunized must always wear a mouth cover, with the exception of when eating or drinking while seated.

Both Chicago and Regina’s sports stadiums are outdoor facilities, creating an ambiguous area in this matter. However, within these ballparks, there are enclosed indoor spaces such as luxury suites or group stores. These seem to be relevant throughout.

Can I re-register for online sports betting in Illinois?

Pritzker permitted online sports betting registration for over seven months due to COVID-19, resulting in a significant increase in Illinois sports betting revenue.

However, as vaccines became widely available in early April, the governor reinstated the requirement for in-person registration.

Since that time, Illinois has maintained in-person casino subscriptions. Although we wouldn’t bet on Pritzker changing his stance, it seems more probable now than it did a few months ago.

However, Illinois introduced Phase 4 in April. In order to meet the helmet requirement, the capacity restriction for interior spaces was set at 50%.

To put it differently, the situation has become clearer since that time. However, to be fair, the government had intended to discontinue in-person registration by the end of this year.

With only a few weeks left in 2021 and the river variation causing chaos, it could be logical to restore online registration.

Of course, Illinois has not frequently made rational decisions regarding the implementation of sports betting. Play Illinois will continue to provide any new updates on this matter.

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Boozell, Joe

Joe Boozell, who has been a college sports writer for NCAA.com since 2015, also has had his work featured on Bleacher Report, FoxSports.com, and NBA.com. As a young man, Boozell played basketball in Chicago against both Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky, an experience you can likely envision.

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