COVID-19 Update: Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Posted March 9, 2021 in Legislative briefs
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) press release announcing their daily test data is available via this link.Preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from March 2 through March 8 is now 2.3%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from March 2 through March 8 is 2.7%. Cases by county can be found on the state’s coronavirus website at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
As of March 9, the State of Illinois has administered more than 3.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccinations. There are approximately 12.6 million residents of Illinois.
On March 8, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidance (available via this link) regarding the activities and precautions that should be taken by people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The guidance includes information on face coverings, gatherings and quarantining.
Also on March 8, IDPH announced new guidance (available via this link) allowing outdoor sporting venues to have gatherings up to 20% capacity for sporting events. This is a change from the previous Phase 4 guidelines that limited sporting event attendance to at or below 50 people. Indoor sporting venues are still required to maintain gatherings at or below 50 people.
As a reminder, Illinois remains in Phase 1B of the state’s vaccination distribution plan, which includes all persons age 65 and older, frontline essential workers and individuals age 16 to 64, who are not otherwise eligible, which have comorbidities, underlying conditions or disabilities. Guidance regarding Phase 1B is available on the state’s coronavirus website via this link.
The state has a website (available via this link) dedicated to assist in finding local vaccination sites.
The U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering the Senate’s version of H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021. The House is expected to vote on the relief package as early as March 10.
A summary of the emergency relief that will be provided to Illinois is available via this linked press release from U.S. Senator Richard J. Durbin and Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Included in the legislation is $65.1 billion in financial assistance for all municipalities, nationwide. Of that, (click here to keep reading).