SE Illinois News

While the Centers for Disease Control states in new guidelines that masks are no longer needed outdoors for individuals who have been fully vaccinated, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, did not commit to IDPH removing mask mandates for outdoor activities like youth sports in a recent conversation with Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopoilis). The duo spoke in a video conference posted to the Illinois House GOP Youtube account on April 27.

“A big concern is outside sports and the mask mandates. Is the IDPH going to follow suit with the CDC and remove all mask mandates for outside sports? Is that coming?” he asked in a video chat that was posted to the Illinois House GOP Youtube channel on April 27.

Dr. Ezike said she hadn’t had time to dive into the new mandates herself, with back-to-back calls and meetings after the new mask mandates were released, but she assured Niemerg that her team is working on it, and that she would be going through the new information herself.

“We will look at that. I have to read the fine print to see if they recommended that for all youth sports. We will absolutely support that and follow the CDC’s recommendation,” she said.

This sort of uncertainty is not new, and many who oppose mask mandates point to ambiguity in the mandates themselves as a reason the mandates should go. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is one of those.

“It’s April 2021 and Dr. Fauci can’t explain why an unvaccinated child has to wear a mask when walking outside and alone with her vaccinated mother,” he said in a Tweet.

Ezike’s late April comments are a change from October 2020, when she said that people should wear masks inside their homes.

“We should wear masks in our homes,” she told reporters in a press conference in October.

She had also been linked to issues with the state’s data collection and reporting in September 2020. Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) took issue with the state not including data from all of the largest hospitals and health care facilities in the state, something the Illinois Department of Public Health has changed course on.

“Our priority should be to protect the most vulnerable, but this administration is exacerbating the crisis by creating economic hardship and additional health issues for many desperate families,” said Plummer

Plummer was unhappy with Ezike in February 2021 when she attended a virtual meeting on the vaccination roll-out, but departed before answering questions.

“She literally left shortly after her speech to avoid questions from committee members,” said Plummer. “So lawmakers’ questions and concerns continue to go unanswered. On top of that, the IDPH staff who did stick around long enough to answer some questions all left before the committee hearing was over. The IDPH staff didn’t stick around to answer their questions or to interact in order to provide more information for lawmakers or the public.”