COVID-19 Hit on Illinois Economy & Jobs: After 6 months of COVID-19 mitigations measures that ultimately shut down major portions of Illinois’ economy, sobering figures are emerging detailing that the worst may yet to come as federal relief measures are running out. Almost 800,000 workers (1 out of every 8) in Illinois lost their jobs in March and April, which is the sharpest decline since the state began tracking employment figures in the 1940s.  While there has been some rebound in employment as segments of the economy reopened, 426,600 Illinois jobs, or 7 percent, still hadn't been recovered by the end of August. That number is slightly lower than the nationwide decline of 7.6 percent. 

The hardest hit sectors of the economy are leisure and hospitality including restaurants, hotels, resorts, bars, information technology, print publishing, broadcasting, television production, and movie theaters.  Manufacturing and construction haven't been hit as hard as other industries. Manufacturing employment is down 3 percent, and construction is down 7 percent. Nondurable goods manufacturing, such as food, has seen a slight increase in jobs, according to state data.

Job losses in Illinois, by industry from March-August:

• Leisure/hospitality (restaurants, hotels, resorts, bars) −23%
• Information (IT, print publishing, broadcasting, television production, movie theaters) −11%
• Other services −8%
• Construction −7%
• Professional services −6%
• Education/Health −6%
• Government −5%
• Trade, Transportation, & Utilities −4%
• Manufacturing −3%
• Financial Activities – 3%

Will, Kankakee Counties Relieved of Additional Mitigation Efforts: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced late last Friday that Region 7, which includes the greater Will and Kankakee County areas, will return to normal Phase 4 mitigations, relieving them of additional mitigation measures which were implemented at the end of August.

As you may recall, Region 7 moved to stricter mitigations following three consecutive days of a rolling positivity rate above 8 percent. As of today, Region 7 has reached the threshold to lift mitigations of three consecutive days of a rolling positivity rate below 6.5 percent, with Friday’s rate at 5.6 percent.  This relief means that indoor dining and bar service can resume along with larger gathering sizes as outlined in Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan.                                                     

Updated Specific State Information on COVID-19 Orders:  As usual, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has updated their comprehensive chart detailing state specific orders, re-opening plans, and other restrictions as well as executive orders and legislation relating to business liability.  This chart is attached to this Update.  These figures will be updated and reported here at least once a week., but these figures are from last Thursday.

Illinois Surpasses 5 Million COVID Tests: Over the weekend, Illinois became one of the first states to have conducted more than 5 million tests since the beginning of the outbreak.  The state has expanded testing capacity to over 52,000 tests a day on average with 74,000 tests in a one-day period over the past weekend.  Illinois also ranks third in the country in the number of daily tests over the last week, behind only California and New York.  The state does 3.5 times the amount of testing per capita than the average state. Illinois also tops the Midwest by doing 50% more per capita testing than the second highest state.

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 275,735 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 1,916 new cases per day since reported here 5 days ago on September 16.  In total, 5,143,387 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 56,049 tests per day since September 16.  The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions for the last 5 days is at 3.4%, but 3.5% for the last 7 days.  Again, 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 8,457 deaths, an average increase of 18 per day since September 16.

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, and interactive maps.

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