State of Illinois, Chicago Announce New Rules on Face Coverings: Coming off the heels of last week’s CDC announcement concerning new guidance for resuming normal activities for those that are fully vaccinated, Governor Pritzker this week announced a new Executive Order effectively relaxing its mandate for face coverings for some places and activities.  The city of Chicago is also following suit in a similar manner. 

Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order largely aligns with the new CDC guidance, which means fully vaccinated people can:

• Resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance
• Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel
• Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States
• Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
• Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic
• Refrain from routine screening testing if feasible

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

It should be noted that individuals who are unvaccinated should continue wearing masks in most settings and both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks on public transportation, in congregate facilities, and in healthcare settings.

The following are the requirements set out in Pritzker’s Executive Order which are pertinent to CICI members.

Requirements for all businesses: All businesses must:

• ensure that employees who are not fully vaccinated practice social distancing and wear face coverings when social distancing is not always possible;
• ensure that all spaces where employees may gather, including locker rooms and lunchrooms, allow for social distancing; and
• ensure that all visitors (customers, vendors, etc.) to the workplace who are not fully vaccinated can practice social distancing; but if maintaining a six-foot social distance will not be possible at all times, encourage those visitors to wear face coverings; and
• continue to take all necessary steps to protect employees and customers by ensuring that any return-to-work plans adhere to all applicable public health guidance.

Requirements for manufacturers: Manufacturers must ensure all employees who are not fully vaccinated practice social distancing and must take appropriate additional public health precautions, which include:

• provide face coverings to all employees who are not fully vaccinated and who are not able to maintain a minimum six-foot social distance at all times;
• ensure that all spaces where employees may gather, including locker rooms and lunchrooms, allow for social distancing; and
• modify and downsize operations (staggering shifts, reducing line speeds, operating only essential lines, while shutting down non-essential lines) to the extent necessary to allow for social distancing and to provide a safe workplace in response to the COVID-19 emergency.

Requirements for office buildings: Employers in office buildings must ensure all employees who are not fully vaccinated practice social distancing and must take appropriate additional public health precautions, which may include:

• provide face coverings to all employees who are not fully vaccinated and who are not able to maintain a minimum six-foot social distance at all times;
• consider implementing capacity limits where the physical space does not allow for social distancing;
• allow telework where possible; and
• develop and prominently post plans and signage to ensure social distancing in shared spaces such as waiting rooms, service counters, and cafeterias.

Schools to Resume In-Person Attendance in the Fall:  In light of the new CDC guidance and Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order, the State Board of Education voted unanimously yesterday to require all student attendance days to be in-person.  The only exception for remote instruction would be for students who are both ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and/or under a quarantine order.

Update on Vaccinations: A total of 10,551,158 vaccines have been administered in Illinois. The average number of vaccines administered daily is 62,884. As of yesterday, 117,381 doses were administered in the state.

According to the state’s vaccine administration data, 4,888,879 people, or 38.37% of the state’s population, have been fully vaccinated with DuPage County leading the state with over 45% of its population fully vaccinated.

Additionally, the state has updated its COVID-19 website containing current locations and other pertinent information on one webpage.

ACC Tracker with State Vaccine Updates & COVID-19 Orders:  The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has again updated its comprehensive COVID-19 Tracker (attached to this Update) with separate charts illustrating state vaccine plans, including documents detailing updated state specific orders and mitigation measures as well as executive orders and legislation relating to business liability. 

Canada COVID-19 Information: For those members who would like to receive information about vaccination protocols and COVID-19 restrictions in Canada, please reach out to Mark Biel at [email protected] to be added to the distribution list. Our friends at the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada have been kind enough to share their COVID-19 information with us.  In addition, here is Canada's COVID-19 immunization plan.  

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 1,370,342 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 1,513 new positive tests per day since reported here 7 days ago on May 12.  In total, 23,972,125 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 66,673 per day since May 12. 

The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions is at 2.3% for the last 7 days, almost a half of a percentage drop from last week.  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 22,494 deaths, an average increase of 29 per day since May 12.

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.

Also, IDPH has a case breakdown of the number of positive cases in Chicago and each county relative to the number of fatalities.  The IDPH website also now includes a breakdown of the cases under each zip code in the state.

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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