To:

Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI) Members

From:

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

Re:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – U.S. Court of Appeals Stays Enforcement of OSHA’s Vaccine and Testing Mandate; Update on Vaccinations; Update on COVID-19 Cases

Please Note: CICI will only be sending out COVID-19 Updates periodically when pertinent information is warranted such as this afternoon.  The American Chemistry Council has currently postponed their updates on state specific information related to the pandemic.

U.S. Court of Appeals Stays Enforcement of OSHA’s Vaccine and Testing Mandate: Late last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order staying enforcement and implementation of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) mandating COVID-19 vaccinations or at least weekly testing for workers at US companies with 100 or more employees.  The order was issued after an expedited briefing and in response to a petition filed by various employers, states, religious groups, and individual citizens seeking a temporary stay of the ETS pending judicial review to determine if a permanent injunction of the ETS should issue. While the Fifth Circuit will not necessarily be the final word on the matter, the ruling signals that at least one federal appellate court has made a preliminary determination that the challenge to the ETS will likely succeed on the merits. 

This order means that OSHA is barred from both enforcing the ETS and taking any steps to implement the ETS. The December 6 and January 4 deadlines are no longer in effect pending further court action. While the ETS is no longer in effect, the Fifth Circuit ruling has no impact on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) interim final rule for healthcare workers and President Biden’s Executive Order on mandatory vaccinations for federal contractors. Employers should continue to adhere to these requirements as applicable. In addition, the vaccination deadline for covered federal contractors has been extended once again and is now January 18, 2022.

As of yesterday, the Judicial Panel of Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all petitions for review of the ETS (including the Fifth Circuit ruling) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Sixth Circuit has jurisdiction over federal appeals from the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. 

CICI will keep the membership abreast of any further court action concerning OSHA’s mandate and its impact on employers. Special thanks to Aaron Gelb of Conn Maciel for his assistance on the ETS.

Update on Vaccinations: A total of 16,553,367 vaccines have been administered to Illinois residents. The average number of vaccines administered daily is 61,474. According to the state’s vaccine administration data, over 66% of the state’s overall population have been fully vaccinated. Almost 80% of the state’s residents who are 12 and up have received their first dose, with 72% being fully vaccinated.

Here’s how the rest of the state’s population by age groups ranks in terms of vaccinations:

12 years of age and older – 72% fully vaccinated; 80% one dose administered
18 years of age and older – 73% fully vaccinated; 81% one dose administered
65 years of age and older – 87% fully vaccinated; 95% one dose administered             

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

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 1,705,777 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois since the pandemic began, which is an average increase of 3,594 positive tests per day since last reported here 13 days ago on November 4. In total, 37,537,725 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average of 134,815 per day since November 4.

The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions is at 2.6%, which is an increase of 0.3% since November 4.  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 26,160 deaths since the pandemic began, an average increase of 20 per day since November 4.

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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