The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association has been communicating directly with manufacturers across Illinois as the situation changes and will continue posting resources online at the IMA’s dedicated page
www.ima-net.org/covid-19/
.
Today it was announced that Governor Pritzker has joined Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Tony Evers (WI), Governor Tim Walz (MN), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN) and Governor Andy Beshear (KY) in a new partnership to work in close coordination to reopen the economy in the Midwest region. With the announcement, a statement from Governor Pritzker's Office indicated that all the states will examine at least these four factors when determining when best to reopen our economy: (1) Sustained control of the rate of new infections and hospitalizations, (2) Enhanced ability to test and trace, (3) Sufficient health care capacity to handle resurgence, and (4) best practices for social distancing in the workplace.
The CARES Act legislation recently passed by Congress provided critical assistance to small businesses and manufacturers in our state to help weather the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program was made available to provide funding to help manufacturers meet critical needs such as payroll obligations so that we can keep our doors open and continue operations.
Unfortunately, this program ran out of cash
today
, and manufacturers and small businesses will be able to access its benefits unless Congress takes action to extend the program. Please consider
clicking on this link to send our members of Congress a message
to ask them to immediately pass additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.
During questions following the Governor's press conference, Governor Pritzker stated that he has not made a determination on whether to extend Illinois' stay-at-home order but that an announcement on that topic will likely be coming in the next several days.
Daily COVID-19 Results
Governor JB Pritzker held his daily press conference and announced:
- There are 1,140 new cases of coronavirus in Illinois.
- There are a total of 1,072 deaths related to coronavirus in Illinois, including 125 additional deaths announced today.
- A total of 25,733 cases have been confirmed in at least 90 of the 102 counties.
- There have been 122,589 individuals tested for coronavirus in Illinois.
Press Conference Key Updates
New or critical items of note that were discussed today by the Governor:
- The Governor announced the new multi-state initiative, as described above, to work with other states in close coordination as a region and open economy with a fact-based data-driven approach.
- The Governor gave in-depth numbers on the amount of personal protection equipment (PPE) procured by the state and declared that PPE has been delivered from Illinois' stockpile to every county in the state.
- The state is continuing to increase testing capacity and praised Illinois company Thermo Fisher for their help in increasing capacity by thousands in the next several weeks.
- As the state increases the number of testing sites, it was announced that Illinois has expanded eligibility requirements to obtain a COVID-19 test at a state-run site to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms. Under these new eligibility requirements, individuals will no longer need a doctors note to get tested at state run sites. While independent testing sites will have their own guidelines, the state will be encouraging those sites to follow suit. Site locations will soon be available at coronavirus.illinois.gov
Employer Resources & Programs
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an alert listing safety tips employers can follow to help protect manufacturing workers from exposure to coronavirus.
Safety measures employers can implement to protect employees working in manufacturing include:
- Practicing sensible social distancing and maintaining six feet between co-workers, where possible;
- Establishing flexible work hours, (e.g., staggered shifts), if feasible;
- Training workers on how to properly put on, use/wear, take-off and maintain protective clothing and equipment;
- Allowing workers to wear masks over their nose and mouth to prevent spread of the virus;
- Monitoring public health communications about coronavirus recommendations for the workplace and ensuring that workers have access to and understand that information;
- Promoting personal hygiene. If workers do not have access to soap and water for handwashing, provide alcohol-based hand rubs containing at least 60 percent alcohol. Provide disinfectants and disposable towels workers can use to clean work surfaces; and
- Encouraging workers to report any safety and health concerns.
