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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 - JCAR Allows Emergency Rule Requiring Businesses to Mandate Face Coverings, Capacity Limits or Face Fines and Penalties; Update on COVID-19 Cases
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JCAR Allows Emergency Rule Requiring Businesses to Mandate Face Coverings, Capacity Limits or Face Fines & Penalties: Moments ago, the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) let stand Governor Pritzker’s Administration’s emergency rules requiring businesses, including manufacturers, schools and child-care establishments to mandate face coverings for people and not to exceed capacity limits, with fines up to $2,500. This emergency rule does not apply to individuals. The vote to suspend the emergency rule needed a super-majority of 8 votes but only received 6 of the 11 members voting.
Under the emergency rule, businesses that fail to enforce social distancing, the wearing of face coverings, or exceeding capacity limits will get a written non-compliance notice. Businesses that do not comply will be given an order to have some or all patrons to leave. If the business continues to refuse to comply, it could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which can result in a fine of $75 to $2,500.
Please note that while emergency rules have the weight of law, they are only effective for 150 days. However, this does not preclude an agency's authority to adopt an identical non-emergency rule. Identical emergency rules generally may not be adopted more than once in any 24-month period, but exceptions are granted to IDPH when necessary to protect the public’s health.
Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 196,948 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 1,610 new cases per day since reported on August 7. In total, 3,147,703 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 44,771 tests per day since August 7. The state’s positivity rate over the last few weeks has risen from 2.6% at the beginning of July to a 7-day rolling average of 4.1% today, but with a positivity rate of 3.9% just in the last 4 days. 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 7,657 deaths, an average increase of 21 per day since August 5.
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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