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To:
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Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI) Members
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From:
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Mark Biel, Chief Executive Officer
[email protected] or 217/522-5805
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Re:
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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – Clarification on Illinois’ OSHA Rules; Hospitalizations at Highest Point Since Pandemic Began; Schools to Immediately Adopt CDC Guidance on Isolation, Quarantine Time; Unvaccinated vs Vaccinated; Update on Vaccinations; Update on COVID-19 Cases
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Clarification on Illinois’s OSHA Rules: Several media outlets have created some confusion in their reporting on recently adopted Illinois rules pertaining to vaccine and mask mandates for Illinois employers. The Illinois Department of Labor rules only apply to public employers – school districts, municipalities, etc. For further clarification, this is a direct quote from Illinois Department of Labor - "In Illinois, state and local government employers are subject to regulation and enforcement by Illinois OSHA; private employers are subject to enforcement by the federal government.”
The Illinois Department of Labor has said they will repeal the rules if the US Supreme Court strikes down the OSHA vaccine mandate. Oral arguments on the issue were heard late last week by the US Supreme Court. No decision has been made on the case yet.
Hospitalizations at Highest Point Since Pandemic Began: Governor Pritzker and state public health officials today announced that new data is showing COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased more than 58% over the last two weeks, with hospital staffing levels becoming stretched due to COVID infections. As of Tuesday, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state had jumped from 4,359 patients to 6,901 over the previous two weeks. This is the most hospitalizations with COVID since the pandemic began.
Illinois is showing a rate of 54.4 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, which is higher than our neighboring states: Kentucky (50% increase), Missouri (49% increase), Wisconsin (31% increase), Iowa (19% increase) and Indiana (13% increase).
Other states are seeing even bigger hospitalization increases than Illinois. Hospitalizations in Texas are up 141%, in California 143%, and 342% in Louisiana. The hospitalization rate in Washington, D.C., was the nation's highest at 124.4 per 100,000 people, followed by New Jersey (68.3) and New York (63.1).
Schools to Immediately Adopt CDC Guidance on Isolation, Quarantine Time: State health officials and officials with the Illinois State Board of Education announced yesterday that, effective immediately, the state will follow the CDC’s guidance on shortening isolation and quarantine periods for schools. The guidance applies to all public and nonpublic schools that serve students in prekindergarten through 12th grade. The guidance says students and school employees who test positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, must “stay home for a minimum of five days and a maximum of 10 days after the first day of symptoms.
Unvaccinated vs Vaccinated: From the New York Times - Some of the timeliest data on Covid-19 outcomes by vaccination status from New York City and the Seattle area, and the two cities are telling a consistent story. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/briefing/omicron-deaths-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated.html
Update on Vaccinations: A total of 19,779,403 vaccines have been administered to Illinois residents. The average number of vaccines administered daily is 51,745. According to the state’s vaccine administration data, here’s how the rest of the state’s population by age groups ranks in terms of vaccinations:
5 years of age and older – 69% fully vaccinated; 78% one dose administered
12 years of age and older – 73% fully vaccinated; 82% one dose administered
18 years of age and older – 75% fully vaccinated; 84% one dose administered
65 years of age and older – 87% fully vaccinated; 95% one dose administered
Of Illinois’ total population, 73% has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and more than 64% of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated, and 40% boosted according to data from the CDC. The state has also updated its COVID-19 website containing current locations and other pertinent information on one webpage.
Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is now reporting 2,522,953 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois since the pandemic began, which is an average increase of 28,103 positive tests per day since last reported here 5 days ago on January 7. In total, 47,411,987 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average of 283,973 per day since January 7.
The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions in the last 5 days is at 9.89%. You can see where the various regions are at in terms of their positivity rates, hospitalizations, and other metrics at this link.
Unfortunately, IDPH is reporting a total of 28,804 deaths since the pandemic began, an average increase of 87 per day since January 7.
You can also check where these cases are occurring at the State of Illinois COVID-19 website which also contains more information on this outbreak.
For information on other states and countries, John Hopkins University has developed this website that provides invaluable resources at a one-stop location detailing testing and tracing trends, timelines of COVID-19 policies, vaccinations, and interactive maps.
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