Governor Pritzker Issues Executive Orders Extending Deadline for Vaccination Mandate, School Quarantines, and Ending Eviction Moratorium: Governor Pritzker late last Friday issued two Executive Orders (EO) concerning the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccine Mandate Extension: As a result of negotiations over his recent vaccine and testing mandate with labor unions representing state workers, Governor Pritzker issued an Executive Order pushing back the deadline for first and second round shots by 30 days.  Now, all state employees at state-owned or operated congregate facilities must have the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series or one dose of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine by no later than October 14, 2021 and the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series by no later than November 18, 2021, subject to collective bargaining.

All contractors and vendors who work at State-owned or operated congregate facilities must have the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series or one dose of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine by no later than October 14, 2021, and the second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series by no later than November 18, 2021.

Ending Evictions Moratorium:  Also, in same Executive Order, the moratorium on evictions that has been in place since March 2020 will expire October 3.

School Quarantines: In a separate Executive Order dealing only with schools, all schools in the state must take the following measures:

• Exclude any student or school personnel who is a confirmed case or probable case for a minimum of 10 days following onset date if symptomatic or date of test if asymptomatic, or as otherwise directed by the school’s local health authority.
• Exclude any student or school personnel who is a close contact for a minimum of 14 days or as otherwise directed by the school’s local health authority, which may recommend options such as exclusion for 10 days or 7 days with a negative test result on day 6. As an alternative to exclusion, schools may permit close contacts who are asymptomatic to be on the school premises, at extracurricular events, or any other events organized by the school if both the confirmed case or probable case and the close contact were masked for the entire exposure period and provided the close contact tests negative on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 following the exposure.
• Exclude any student or school personnel for a minimum of 10 days who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 until they are fever free for 24 hours and until 48 hours after diarrhea or vomiting have ceased.
• All schools shall make remote instruction available consistent with the requirements declared by the State Superintendent for students excluded from in-person instruction pursuant to this Executive Order.

According to various press reports, this particular EO was issued to head off potential lawsuits over a previous EO that mandated vaccinations, testing, and quarantines for students and staff.  In fact, the Illinois Department of Public Health issued an emergency rule codifying the order and further clarifying that school districts don’t need court action to require vaccinations, testing, masks, or excluding students and school personnel.

Update on Vaccinations: A total of 14,377,808 vaccines have been administered to Illinois residents. The average number of vaccines administered daily is 19,494.  According to the state’s vaccine administration data, 54.67% of the state’s overall population have been fully vaccinated with DuPage County still leading the state with over 64% of its population fully vaccinated. Almost 79% of the state’s residents who are 12 and up have received their first dose, with 62% being fully vaccinated.

Here’s how the rest of the state’s population by age groups ranks in terms of vaccinations:

12 years of age and older – 62% fully vaccinated; 79% one dose administered
18 years of age and older – 63% fully vaccinated; 81% one dose administered
65 years of age and older – 78% fully vaccinated; 95% one dose administered             

Additionally, the state has updated its COVID-19 website containing current locations and other pertinent information on one webpage.

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 1,605,320 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 3,275 positive tests per day since last reported here 7 days ago on September 15.  In total, 30,912,653 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 102,777 per day since September 15. 

The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions is at 3.18% since September 15.  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 24,699 deaths, an average increase of 35 per day since September 15.

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.

ACC Information on State COVID-19 Policy:

NORTHEAST

New York
NY Governor Hochul announced 120 new pop up vaccination sites over 12 weeks as part of a #vaxtoschool campaign to encourage the vaccination of younger New Yorkers.

NY Governor Hochul also announced new mask mandates, regardless of vaccination status, for “anyone medically able to tolerate wearing a mask” at child care facilities that are licensed, operated, certified or approved by state agencies. This includes child care centers, home based group family and family child care programs, certified residential and day programs, inpatient and outpatient mental health facilities, substance abuse programs, juvenile detention programs, juvenile residential facilities, congregate foster care programs, runaway and homeless youth, domestic violence and other shelter programs.

Massachusetts
The MA State Police Union has filed a lawsuit against MA Governor Charlie Baker over the mandate requiring that executive branch employees are vaccinated by Oct. 17 or could face disciplinary charges. The Union is requesting at least a delay in the mandate.

Connecticut
CT Governor Lamont announced that he will extend the school mask mandate from the original expiration date of September 30 with delta variant rates on the rise. The Governor will work with the legislature to determine the date for continuation of the mask mandate.

Rhode Island
RI Governor McKee has backed off a mandate that would have required all workers in a Department of Health licensed health care facility to be vaccinated by Oct. 1. Facing a health care worker shortage, the Administration announced that “if there is a risk to quality of care and an unvaccinated worker must continue to work beyond October 1 to mitigate that risk, the employer has 30 days to ensure that role is fulfilled by a fully vaccinated healthcare worker.”

New Hampshire
NH Governor Sununu urged residents to get vaccinated while he continued to state he would fight a federal vaccine mandate that would take the form of an OSHA rule requiring all employers with 100 workers or more to be vaccinated.

MIDATLANTIC

D.C. Mayor Bowser Announces Vaccination Requirements for All Adults Regularly in Schools and Child Care Centers and for Student Athletes
On Monday, Mayor Bowser signed a Mayor’s Order requiring that by November 1, 2021 all adults who are regularly in schools and child care centers facilities in the District must be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Order further requires that, beginning November 1, 2021, students aged 12 and older must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to participate in school-based extracurricular athletics.

West Virginia Governor Justice Announces “Saving Our Care” Initiative
On Monday, Governor Justice announced the “Saving Our Care” initiative that will provide staffing assistance and financial to hospitals and long-term care facilities like nursing homes and assisted living facilities to keep workforce levels up. The program will also provide financial assistance to hospitals that have to defer elective procedures. The initiative will also include 24/7 monitoring and communication with hospital leaders, including a statewide monitoring system for all hospitals and long-term care facilities.

MID-WEST

Illinois Issues New COVID-19 Orders
Governor J.B. Pritzker on 9/17/21 issued aDisaster Proclamation related to COVID-19 effective through 10/16/21 and three executive orders on COVID-19. Executive Order 21-24requires schools to exclude students and school personnel who are confirmed cases, probable cases, or close contacts. Schools must provide remote learning to students who are excluded.Executive Order 21-25 amends EO 21-24 to provide more detail on the measures schools must take to ensure the safety of students and school personnel. Executive Order 21-23 extends the expiration date of several COVID-19 Executive Orders to October 16, 2021. The bill also amends vaccination requirements for state employees, state contractors and state vendors at State-owned or operated congregate facilities by setting deadlines for the first dose by 10/14/21 and the second dose by 11/18/21. 

Iowa Renews Disaster Proclamation
Governor Kim Reynolds on 9/17/21 issued anEmergency Proclamation extending for 30 days certain provisions that assist the state in responding to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Michigan Budget Bill Bans Vaccine Mandate by State-funded Entities
The Michigan Senate on 9/22/21 approved budget legislation SB 82 that bans vaccine mandates by any state department, agency, board, commission, or public officer that receives funding under the budget. The entities must not (1) require as a condition of accessing any facility or receiving services that an individual provide proof of a COVID-19 vaccine except as provided by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal Medicare or Medicaid funding; (2) issuing or requiring a COVID-19 vaccine passport; and (3) developing a database or make any existing database publicly available to access an individual's COVID-19 vaccine status by any person, company, or governmental entity.  The bill states that there are no restrictions on transmitting proof of an individual’s vaccine status, so long as the individual consents.  Anticipating federal action, the bill states that if state-funded entities are required to establish a vaccine policy due to a federal mandate, they must provide exemptions to individuals for whom a physician certifies that a COVID-19 vaccine is or may be detrimental to the individual's health or is not appropriate; and an individual who provides a written statement on religious convictions or objections to immunization.

SOUTH

No updates this week!

WEST

CalOSHA Advisory Committee to Meet to Consider Permanent Rules
Last week the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CalOSHA) released for discussion initial draft text for the proposed permanent COVID-19 regulations. If adopted, these would be subject to renewal or expire after two years and would replace the currently in place Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). Stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide input on the draft at an advisory committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Written comments may be submitted by the public through October 4th. The release of the draft does follow President Biden’s announcement of the COVID-19 Action Plan, Path Out of the Pandemic but it does not mandate vaccination or set forth a requirement to test in lieu of vaccination. The department indicated that it will work separately on addressing the implementation of the federal OSHA requirement for vaccinations in the workplace once these are released. Below are a few highlighted departures from previous rule language outlined in the proposed rules. (This is not a comprehensive list; please review the text on the CalOSHA website):

• Long term protocols may be in place for California employers given the scope of the rules, extending 2-3 years through a permanent set of rules.
• Eliminates the need for a COVID-19 Prevention Plan. Instead, an employer would be required to assess hazards and incorporate policies in to its broader workplace safety plan
• Obligates employers to provide respirators (N95s) for voluntary use to employees identified by a health care professional “as being at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status
• Requires employers to maintain COVID-19 vaccination records for two years
• Expands building ventilation requirements.
• Requires that employers provide COVID-19 testing to all close contacts during working time and at no cost to the employee and regardless of vaccination status; eliminates previous exception for fully vaccinated employees without symptoms
• Removes ‘exclusion pay’ provisions, removes explicit requirements regarding handwashing or cleaning/disinfecting procedures.
• Revises outbreak reporting and testing obligations
• Modifies isolation requirements that apply to employer provided housing to also apply to housing where all employees are fully vaccinated

Montana Hospitals Are Now Rationing Care
Montana hospitals have now entered a crisis standard of care with all hospitals across the state either currently rationing care or making plans to do so. The state is seeing hospitalization and infection rates that are slightly lower than this time last year are experiencing around According to the New York Times, the number of cases in Montana has jumped 55% in the last two weeks, the largest spike in the nation The state also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country with only 51 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated (Source).

Wyoming Governor Calls on National Guard to Support Hospitals
Governor Mark Gordon is activating the Wyoming National Guard to assist hospitals struggling under an increased number of COVID-19 hospitalizations. This is the second time Gordon has activated the national guard. The previous activation came in November when the state strained under a surge of cases and was limited the Cheyenne hospital. This time, the Governor is calling on the National Guard to help provide support across 17 cities, covering 24 sites. See article here. 

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