Chicago May Move Slower to Re-Opening, # of COVID cases rising: Under the state of Illinois’ Bridge to Phase 5 Plan mentioned in this Update last week, capacity limits on restaurants, bars, gyms and other establishments would increase up to 60 percent. For people that have been fully vaccinated, those people will not count against these capacity limits. 

However, COVID cases and the positivity rate in the city of Chicago have been rising recently, with city health officials now saying it may move slower towards this re-opening plan. While Chicago's average positivity rate is 3.2%, which is below its 5% target level, it’s an increase from 2.9% the previous week. The average COVID-19 case count is also up 23% compared to last week. That number is also increasing faster than the testing rate, meaning infections are on the rise.  The city is at "high risk" right now because it's seen five days in a row of case increases of more than 10%. Hospital emergency room visits are also considered "moderate risk,” but have risen in the last week.  While ICU capacity is at “lower risk”, this is a lagging indicator of case increases.

Further, the average case count in suburban Cook County has also been on the rise since mid-March. It rose from 247 average cases on March 7 to 328 cases on March 20. The test positivity rate as of March 17 is 4.3%, up from a low of 3.7% at the end of February.

Update on Phase 1B Vaccinations: 5,853,915 vaccine doses have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 414,900 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 6,268,815. A total of 5,036,364 vaccine doses have been administered in Illinois, including 363,711 for long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 97,680 doses. Yesterday - 107,219 doses were reported administered in Illinois. Please note that beginning April 12, the Governor has indicated that all Illinoisians over age 16 will be eligible to be vaccinated.

Also, as a reminder, IDPH is now posting the weekly number of COVID-19 vaccine doses allocated from the federal government. Weekly allocations will be broken out into the number of doses allotted for long-term care, second doses, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Safety Net Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, Illinois National Guard Vaccine Sites, Illinois Retail Pharmacy, Minority Health and Mobile Teams, Illinois Department of Corrections, dialysis centers, and local health departments. Both first dose and second dose allocation will be broken out by local health department. The City of Chicago receives its own allocation of vaccine and therefore is not included on the IDPH website. These data include vaccine allocated to the state and do not include vaccine that is part of the federal supply, which is directly distributed by the federal government. Data can be found at http://dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccineallocations

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 1,227,708 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 1,992 new positive tests per day since reported here 7 days ago on March 17.  In total, 19,805,516 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 72,319 tests per day since March 17. 

The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions is at 2.8% for the last 7 days, which is a slight increase of 0.6%.  The overall state’s positivity rate reached its lowest rate since the beginning of the pandemic on March 13, 2021 with a 2.1% positivity rate.  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 21,136 deaths, an average increase of 21 per day since March 17.

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.

1400 E. Touhy Ave, Suite 110
Des Plaines, IL 60018
Tel: (847) 544-5995
Fax: (847) 544-5999