Mayor Lightfoot Orders Vaccination Proof for Restaurants, Bars, Gyms, Theaters: Yesterday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled new COVID rules for the city beginning January 3 requiring people to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated before entering a restaurant, bar, gym, theater, and many other public places.  Churches, grocery stores, offices and public schools will be exempt from these new requirements.  Proof of a booster shot is not needed at this time.  Proof can come in the form of a copy, photocopy or electronic copy of a vaccination card and people will always have to present a photo ID.

Reminder on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard & Court Action: A number of CICI Associate Member law firms have been reporting and opining on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS).  As such, CICI wanted to remind you that last Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dissolved the nationwide stay of OSHA’s Vaccination, Testing, and Face Coverings Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that was issued by the Fifth Circuit in November. 

The US Department of Labor and OSHA issued a statement that the agency is moving forward with implementation and enforcement of the ETS, but also provided some enforcement relief for companies able to demonstrate good faith efforts to comply. Even if you are not prepared to fully implement the program by the January 9 deadline, there is enforcement discretion and relief OSHA has indicated it will offer to companies working steadily to come into compliance. 

Numerous parties opposing the ETS have filed an emergency application and motion with the US Supreme Court requesting a reissuance of the stay of the ETS.  Further, 27 State Attorneys General have also filed an emergency application for a stay to the US Supreme Court.

CICI would like to thank Conn Maciel Carey, Thompson Hine, and Seyfarth Shaw for keeping us informed of this situation.  CICI will keep you up to date with any further developments.

Illinois COVID Cases, Hospitalizations Continue to Rise: As of today, all 102 counites in the state are experiencing “high transmission” levels of COVID-19, while many are also experiencing dramatic growth in other metrics designed to illustrate how rapidly the virus is spreading.  Just this Monday, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 12,328 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number since Dec 1, 2020. The state is also reporting the lowest numbers of hospital beds at 7% availability since the summer of 2020.  

Update on Vaccinations: A total of 18,775,064 vaccines have been administered to Illinois residents. The average number of vaccines administered daily is 66,113. According to the state’s vaccine administration data, here’s how the rest of the state’s population by age groups ranks in terms of vaccinations:

5 years of age and older – 68% fully vaccinated; 76% one dose administered
12 years of age and older – 73% fully vaccinated; 81% one dose administered
18 years of age and older – 74% fully vaccinated; 83% one dose administered
65 years of age and older – 87% fully vaccinated; 95% one dose administered             

In addition, 2,838,285 eligible Illinoisans have also received a booster shot.  The state has also updated its COVID-19 website containing current locations and other pertinent information on one webpage.

Update on COVID-19 Cases: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is reporting 2,002,360 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois since the pandemic began, which is an average increase of 10,692 positive tests per day since last reported here 11 days ago on December 10. In total, 42,986,170 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average of 197,776 per day since December 10.

The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions since December 10 is at 5.6%, but in the last week that number has jumped to 7.1%.  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 27,357 deaths since the pandemic began, an average increase of 50.5 per day since December 10.

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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