WILL COUNTY – Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant is announcing new protocols around face coverings at Will County Buildings. Starting Monday, August 2, the public, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, will be required to wear a mask or face covering upon entering any county building and during any time spent in county buildings.
Due to a large increase in COVID cases, both locally and nationwide, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) are recommending face coverings be worn indoors for everyone, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, in jurisdictions with substantial transmission.
According to the CDC and the Will County Health Department, Will County is an area of substantial transmission with the number of positive cases reported increasing threefold since June 27, while vaccination numbers continue to lag.
Areas of substantial transmission are considered by CDC to be those with 50 to 99 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period. Areas of high transmission are considered to be those with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people over a 7-day period. The community level of transmission can be found at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view.
“We are listening to our public health experts, and they are saying that Will County is experiencing a rapid rise in infections amongst the unvaccinated.” said County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant. “We know masking can help prevent transmission of COVID-19 and its variants. We will continue to follow IDPH and CDC recommendations to help protect our employees and the public. We encourage all individuals to get a vaccination to protect themselves, their loved ones and our fellow neighbors.”
For more information on COVID-19 and vaccination and testing opportunities, please go to https://willcountyhealth.org/covid-19/ or call (815) 774-7386.
