Testing Requirements Eased for Certain School and Childcare Staff with New Executive Order

As part of his continuing plan to carefully unwind the state’s COVID-19 executive orders, Governor Pritzker last week updated testing requirements for school and childcare personnel, rescinding the requirement that unvaccinated employees in these sectors test twice weekly. This change goes into effect Friday and is made on the advice of medical experts, based on their careful consideration of the current conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and is in line with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance.

“Vaccination continues to be the most effective tool we have against COVID-19, and I’m proud that millions of Illinoisans have taken advantage of these life-saving vaccines – they have given us the ability to adjust these requirements,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I continue to urge everyone in the state to stay up to date on vaccines and boosters, including getting the recently released bivalent booster shot. Although the current state of the pandemic is very different than it was two years ago, we still need to protect the most vulnerable members of our community as we continue to be responsive to the changing challenges and evolutions of this virus.” [Read more...]

With Widespread Vaccine Availability and Effective Treatments, New Guidance Eases Requirements For Exposure Quarantines in Low and Moderate Risk Setting

CDC Also Stresses Importance of Staying Up to Date on Vaccinations and Boosters [Read more...]

Public Health Director Urges Illinoisans to Monitor Local COVID-19 Case Counts and to Protect Themselves by Remaining Up-to-date on Vaccinations

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) issued a warning today that COVID-19 case rates are slowly rising in many areas of the state and that members of the public should be paying close attention to conditions in their local communities and staying up-to-date on their vaccination status. [Read more...]

Executive Order Returns Schools to Normal Operating Procedures for Infectious Diseases

With Illinois continuing to see vast improvement in recent weeks of COVID-19 hospitalizations and transmission, today Governor Pritzker released an updated executive order lifting the school exclusion requirements, shifting schools back to the ordinary processes for handling infectious diseases. The executive order was initially put in place to standardize CDC requirements for schools and alleviate the burden on overwhelmed local health departments from having to provide individualized recommendations. Now that the COVID-19 surge has subsided, schools and local health departments can return to exercising their longstanding authority to address infectious disease cases among students and staff. [Read more...]