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 – Governor Pritzker Announces Emergency Rule Requiring Businesses to Mandate Face Coverings; Updated Specific State Information on COVID-19 Orders; Update on COVID-19 Cases
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Governor Pritzker Announces Emergency Rule Requiring Businesses to Mandate Face Coverings: Due to COVID-19 cases increasing yet again in the state, and presumably not wanting to revert back to Phase 3 or reintroducing a “Stay at Home” order to combat these increases, Governor Pritzker announced today an emergency rule 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.
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 leave the premises. 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.
At the time of this Update, we have not been able to obtain a copy of the actual emergency rule that has or will be filed today but will send out to the membership once we have it. While the emergency rule goes into effect upon its introduction, it must have the approval of the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) at their regularly scheduled meeting this coming Tuesday. In the past, JCAR has been reluctant to accept a rule, emergency or otherwise, that fall outside of current statute, which is the case with this emergency rule. CICI will reported back next week on any action taken by JCAR regarding the emergency rule.
Updated Specific State Information on COVID-19 Orders: The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has again updated their comprehensive chart detailing state specific orders, re-opening plans, and other restrictions as well as executive orders and legislation relating to business liability. This chart is attached to this Update. These figures will be updated and reported here at least once a week. ACC State Policies on Liability (8/6/20).
Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 190,508 positive cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 2,018 new cases per day since reported here 2 days ago, August 5. In total, 2,984,618 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 44,277 tests per day since August 5. 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, with a positivity rate of 4.5% over the last 2 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 7,573 deaths, an average increase of 20 deaths 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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