(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot does not join Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in calling for a national mandate that people wear masks in public. But she agrees with his reasons for it.

Lightfoot said Thursday people should unequivocally wear masks to cover their noses and mouths when they go out, to help prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

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She doesn’t believe a national law — something Pritzker suggested to a U.S. House committee this week — is the way to go.

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In the end, Lightfoot said, it comes down to personal responsibility.

“Do I think we should be arresting and ticketing people who don’t wear a mask? I don’t think that that’s a good use of scarce resources.

“Do I think we need to continue to push people to educate them into compliance? 100% we do.”

Lightfoot said it’s important to impress the importance of masks to young people, those aged 18 to 29, because that demographic has seen an increase in coronavirus cases.