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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 - Chicago, Other Areas Tighten Phase 4 Restrictions; CFATS Re-Authorization on President Trump’s Desk Ahead of Tomorrow’s Expiration; Hospitalization Rates Still Falling to Lowest Levels Yet; Update on COVID-19 Cases
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Chicago, Other Areas Tighten Phase 4 Restrictions: As you may know by now, the City of Chicago and other municipalities and areas in the state has recently announced further restrictions to the Governor’s revamped phase 4 re-opening plan, reacting to increased number of positive cases and a few areas of the state where the positivity rate is increasing dangerously close to established threshold levels considered safe.
For Chicago, the city has announced beginning this Friday that bars which don’t sell food will no longer be allowed to serve alcohol indoors and those that can serve food, indoor tables will be reduced to an occupancy of 6 down from its original 10. The city will also limit all indoor gym classes to a maximum of 10 people and ban personal services requiring the removal of masks, such as shaves and facials.
St. Louis/Metro-East Area: As for the St. Louis Metro-East area of the state, which has seen the greatest spike in the number of positive cases in the state, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) this week warned the counties in this area that further restrictions could come into place if the positivity rate doesn’t start coming down. As of today, the statewide positivity rate is at 3.2% but in the Metro-East area, it is climbing close to 8%.
In other areas of the state, the city of Springfield has also issued similar restrictions and announced greater enforcement of the state’s face covering and social distances rules.
CFATS Re-Authorization on President Trumps Desk Ahead of Tomorrow’s
Expiration: The U.S. House and Senate has acted upon the re-authorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program that is due to expire tomorrow, July 23, with the measure now sitting on President Trump desk for his approval. CICI and numerous industry groups have reported that the President intends to sign the measure into law, allowing for a 3-year extension of this worthwhile program.
Maintaining the security of our nation’s chemical facilities is a critical concern. Industry groups, including CICI, strongly support this re-authorization as it will provide much-needed regulatory stability and certainty for the continued operation of a number of covered chemical production plants.
Hospitalization Rates Still Falling to Lowest Levels Yet: Today, IDPH is reporting that of the current 165,301 positive tests in Illinois, only 1,456 individuals, or 0.88% required some sort of hospital care. This is a reduction of 0.04% from 7 days ago, which continues a downward trend for the last couple months.
Of these hospitalizations, 337 patients were in the ICU and 132 patients were on ventilators. When the state’s COVID-19 peak was reached on April 28, over 5,000 patients were in the hospital with 1,290 patients being in the ICU. At that time, 10% of all then-positive cases were requiring hospital care. Again, IDPH’s webpage tracks positivity and hospitalization rates for the state’s current four regions.
Update on COVID-19 Cases: The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is reporting 165,301 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 1,191 new cases per day since reported here 5 days ago, July 17. In total, 2,348,487 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 36,437 tests per day since July 17. The state’s positivity rate over the last few weeks has risen from 2.6 at the beginning of July to 3.2%
Unfortunately, IDPH is reporting a total of 7,347 deaths, an average increase of 15 per day since July 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, and interactive maps.
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