An order requiring masks inside Pennsylvania's K-12 schools and child care facilities will remain in place while the state Supreme Court considers the governor's appeal of a lawsuit that overturned the mandate.

The court ruled 5-1 Tuesday to put on hold a lower-court order that stated the mask mandate would not remain in place as litigation over it continues.

If the justices hadn't acted, the mask mandate would have ended Saturday.

Attorney Thomas King III is representing a group of Butler County plaintiffs challenging the mask mandate to the Commonwealth Court on the basis that state acting Health Secretary Alison Beam lacked the authority to implement the order.

Arguments begin Dec. 8, King said Tuesday, and he said the stay order is a sign that the case will be speedy.

“I think it's a good sign they will rather quickly decide the case,” King said. “It's good that they expedited it.”

King also said the stay order has no affect on the arguments of the case.“The order specifically says the order is not based on merits of the case,” King said. “I think our case is very right.”In a 4-1 ruling Nov. 10, Commonwealth Court sided with a top state Senate Republican leader and others who sued over the masking order by the state's acting health secretary, which took effect in early September amid rising coronavirus cases and concerns about the surge of the delta variant.The Commonwealth Court majority said that Beam lacked authority to require masks and did not comply with state laws about reviewing and approving regulations, and that the mandate was adopted without an existing disaster emergency declared by Gov. Tom Wolf.The majority in the lower court said the state's disease control law does not give health secretaries “the blanket authority to create new rules and regulations out of whole cloth, provided they are related in some way to the control of disease or can otherwise be characterized as disease control measures.”State House Republicans in October sought a declaration by the obscure Joint Committee on Documents that Beam's order had to be enacted as a regulation, but were turned down, 7-4.“I appreciate the court scheduling oral arguments early in December so we can resolve this case as quickly as possible. We look forward to making our case that parents should be empowered to do what is best for their children,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, who sued to challenge the mask mandate.Wolf, a Democrat, announced earlier this month he intends to return authority over masking decisions to local school districts in January, but will continue to require masks in child care centers and early learning programs.Earlier Tuesday, Wolf suggested he is not considering additional containment measures as the omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads overseas.Wolf said there is no cause for panic, noting no cases of the omicron variant have been discovered in the United States.“In Pennsylvania and around the country, the vaccine is still our strategy, so get your shot,” Wolf told a Pittsburgh radio station Tuesday.“Get your vaccine. That's our strategy, and it seems to be working.”COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and intensive-care unit cases are rising in Pennsylvania and many other states. About 3,600 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, according to Department of Health figures.Wolf called that “very few” and said he doesn't “see any need for Pennsylvania to do anything draconian at this point,” such as limiting elective surgeries to clear up hospital space.More than 33,000 people in Pennsylvania have died from COVID-19, according to Department of Health data.