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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 – Request for TRO & Preliminary Injunction Against Worker’s Comp Rule Available; Free Face Masks Distribution Sign-Up; Another Federal Stimulus Package Being Debated; Update on COVID-19 Cases; Updated CICI COVID-19 Webpage
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Request for Temporary Restraining Order & Preliminary Injunction Against Worker’s Comp Rule Available: As reported here yesterday, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA) and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA) filed a motion today in the Sangamon County Circuit Court in Springfield for a TRO and a Preliminary Injunction to effectively stop the emergency rule established last week by the state’s Worker’s Compensation Commission.
As you know, this emergency rule created an “automatic presumption” that any worker diagnosed with COVID-19 contracted the illness while at the workplace, even if the employee was working remotely or currently not on the job. Thus, the employee would be eligible for coverage under Workers’ Compensation.
Absent a successful TRO, this emergency rule will be in place for 150 days. The plaintiffs in this case are hopeful that the court will hear this matter before the end of the week. CICI will report back to the membership on any developments with the request for a TRO.
Free Face Masks Distribution Sign-Up: CICI’s National Association member, the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA), wanted to share with the CICI membership that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has initiated a campaign to distribute cloth face masks in response to the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) recommendation to wear cloth face coverings in public settings.
The administration has reached out to trade associations like SOCMA which represent sectors identified by the Department of Homeland Security as critical infrastructure to collect information and streamline this process.
We are sharing this information as part of our COVID-19 outreach for this voluntary government-managed program. Use this sign up form if your company would like to participate but the forms must be submitted by tomorrow, Thursday, April 23 by 12:00 pm Eastern time.
Another Federal Stimulus Package Being Debated: At the time of this Update, the U.S. Senate has already passed another COVID-19 stimulus plan with a cost of $484 billion. The U.S. House is expected to take up this measure when they return tomorrow.
Details of this new plan include $320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program which ran out of funds already from the first stimulus package. It also includes $60 billion in loans and grants for a separate Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, $75 billion for hospitals, and $25 billion for virus testing. These testing funds include $18 billion for states and local governments to conduct COVID-19 tests.
Even after passage of this particular stimulus package, Congress is expected to return to Washington on May 4 to debate a broader measure that will include aid to state and local governments, coronavirus caregivers, and possibly for workers at grocery stores, drugstores and others providing needed goods and services.
CICI will provide more details on these aid packages when they become available.
Update on COVID-19 Cases:The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) is now reporting a total of 1,565 deaths, an increase of 98 deaths since yesterday. There are currently 35,108 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an increase of 2,049 from yesterday, which is also the largest single daily increase in the number of positive cases to date.
In total, 164,346 people have now been tested in Illinois for the virus, which is an increase of 9,349 as of yesterday. To date, this is the largest number of tests being conducted in a 24-hour period, and just shy of the 10,000 per day needed for medical experts to determine if current actions to contain the spread of this virus are working and when the state may reach its peak in terms of the number of positive cases. Of those people tested, 21.3% of the results are positive for COVID-19, which is the same percentage as yesterday.
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.
Updated CICI COVID-19 Webpage: CICI has updated it’s website to now include all of the COVID-19 Updates sent out to the membership as well as all of the informational and guidance documents from both government and business resources and can be accessed at CICI COVID-19. In addition, the search engine at www.cicil.net is another good resource for finding information on this outbreak and other CICI publications and activities.
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