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 – Business Re-Opening Guidance; Update on COVID-19 Cases; Hospitalization Rates Lowest Ever
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Business Re-Opening Guidance: This information was included in this morning’s End-of-Session Report but bares mentioning again. Over the Memorial Day Weekend, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), announced their long-awaited guidance for a new re-opening plan for business and other activities. This new plan, along with adherence to these guidelines, will allow limited outdoor seating in restaurants and bars beginning as early as this Friday, May 29. Also allowed to return is golfing in foursomes and with carts limited to households, boating and camping with more than 2 people but no more than 10 people. Tennis, all state parks and their concessions, retail shops, personal care facilities such as nail salons, barbershops, and gyms will also be allowed to reopen under these guidelines.
Mark Your Calendars – Virtual CICI Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Committee Meeting June 18: There will be a virtual Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday, June 18 from 9:00-10:00 am. A meeting notice and agenda will be forthcoming.
Update on COVID-19 Cases: After the Memorial Day Weekend, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) is reporting a total of 4,923 deaths, an average 4-day increase of 52. This is the first week that there have been fewer deaths than the previous week. There are currently 113,195 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average 4-day increase of 1,937 over the weekend. In total, 786,794 people have now been tested in Illinois for the virus, an average 4-day increase of 22,415 tests being performed.
The average weekend statewide positivity rate is at 8.6% and our statewide 7-day rolling positivity rate is at 9.2%. Again, IDPH’s webpage tracks positivity and hospitalization rates for the state’s four regions.
You can 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. In addition, Western Illinois University has an put together this Map of COVID-19 Cases in Illinois & Surrounding States which gives you picture of where COVID-19 cases are occurring in relation to areas surrounding Illinois.
Worldometer also has a site with pertinent statistics on a state by state breakdown and comparison. Also, the City of Chicago has a good categorization of the cases within the city.
Hospitalization Rates Lowest Ever: Of the 113,195 positive COVID-19 cases in Illinois, there are 3,788 cases, or 3.3%, requiring some sort of hospital care. Of those positive cases, 1,035 patients currently require ICU care and 592 patients were on ventilators. These rates are the lowest since IDPH began reporting these figures on April 12.
In addition, nearly 1,200 fewer beds are in use by these COVID-19 patients, which is a 6-week low. All hospital beds and ICU bed availability are both above 30%.
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