Fellow Evanstonians, I am petitioning the leaders of Evanston, including Mayor Dan Biss and the head of Health and Human Services Ike Ogbo to repeal the "Emergency" Declaration Order dated August 24th, 2021 immediately, particularly for schools and permit parents to determine the masking of their children. Under the current order, the mask mandate remains in effect to "prevent the spread of Covid-19..." . At the time it was enacted, this made sense given the unknown Delta variant impact and it's affect on those with and without a vaccine and to children. Since that time, the virus has continued to evolve, scientists have learned more about it's ability to spread, its severity to those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated. Since August 24, 2021 we have also dealt with yet another variant, Omicron and those aged 5-12 were granted emergency use access to the vaccine.

At the beginning of the pandemic we were asked to "flatten the curve" by locking down to protect ourselves and others. Then as the pandemic progressed, we were asked to "mask up" and to "get the vaccine" to protect ourselves and others from severe illness and death. It is a huge accomplishment to state that Evanston is 87% fully vaccinated as of 2/10/2022 and 97% have at least one vaccine dose, for those 5 and up, according to the Evanston Health and Human Services Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard.

When the health threat is truly an "Emergency," Evanstonians have answered the call. But when the "Emergency" has subsided, we need to be rationale and enable life to get back to "normal" for the sake of our kids mental health benefits and educational benefits that "normal" permits. Masks should be a tool in our tool-kit and be at the individual's discretion when a true "Emergency" has subsided, not mandated. If and when an additional variant threatens the health of Evanstonians as determined by the health authorities, a new Emergency Declararion, if determined needed, I'm confident, will be adhered to by Evanston citizens.

I am petitioning our leaders of Evanston to repeal the Emergency Declaration immediately, especially for our schools, let the parents and individuals decide their own masking policy, as the spread in the community continues to decline and the immediate "emergency" is over. Also, I immediately ask the Health and Human Services head of Evanston, Mr. Ike Ogbo, to define, with what we know today, the definition of "Emergency" as it exists today, with the hospitals having excess capacity, an extraordinarily high vaccination rate in Evanston, and therapeutics available for those who fall ill.

Please join our petition as we seek answers from the government authorities on this topic from a mandate that as of 2/10/2022, is 5 months and 18 days old.