To:

Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI) Members

From:

Mark Biel, Chief Executive Officer
[email protected] or 217/522-5805 

Re:

Weekend Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – 11,256 Confirmed Cases, 274 Deaths; Child Care Assistance for “Essential Workers” 


This afternoon, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) is reporting a total of 274 deaths, an increase of 64 from Friday afternoon, out of 11,256 now-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, which is an increase of 2,352 new cases since Friday afternoon. In total, 58,983 people have now been tested in Illinois for the virus, an increase of 10,935 new tests since Friday afternoon. 

You can see where these cases are occurring at the State of Illinois COVID-19 website which also contains more information on this outbreak. Also, IDPH has a case breakdown of the number of positive cases in Chicago and each county relative to the number of fatalities.  In addition, Western Illinois University has an put together this Map of COVID-19 Cases in Illinois & Surrounding States to give you a better picture of where COVID-19 cases are at in relation to areas surrounding Illinois.  

Governor Pritzker Announces Child Care Assistance for “Essential Workers”: At the governor’s daily news briefing, he announced that all essential workers in healthcare, human services, essential government services and essential infrastructure now qualify for the state’s Childcare Assistance Program.  According to the governor, this means that the state will cover most, if not all, of the cost of care with the state’s emergency childcare providers. The Governor remarked that this action would cover nurses, doctors, and others in healthcare as well as grocery store workers and food producers. 

At this time, CICI presumes this action is being taken through an Executive Order, but language of such an order is not yet available.  It’s also unclear, in absence of said order, what the exact definition of the term “Essential Worker” would entail.  As you know, since the first “Stay at Home” order, the chemical industry and its workers have been deemed essential.  Stay tuned for more details on this presumed Executive Order.

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Tel: (847) 544-5995
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