Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a law protecting workers from having to comply with covid mandates at the office if they have religious or other exemptions to them. On Friday night, Reynolds signed the bill that would allow employees to escape employer covid mandates, including vaccination mandates, and allow greater use of medical and religious exemptions for people to refuse covid restrictions. The Iowa House and Senate had passed the bill Thursday. It makes it tougher for businesses to Kim Reynolds require employees to be vaccinated or submit to other covid protocols such as regular testing.... Read More

BREAKING: Illinois employers could very soon be allowed to fire employees who refuse to get vaccinated or comply with other covid-19 regulations. The Health Care Right of Conscience Act amendment bans employees from using their moral beliefs as a reason to refuse to comply with a workplace’s covid mandates, which could include mandatory vaccinations. The Illinois Senate voted 31-24 to approve the proposal late Thursday night. This measure passed out of the House on a 64-52-2 vote Wednesday. The new amendment now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker to be signed into the law, and it certainly looks... Read More

Even as covid numbers slowly decline in the state, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said there may be tougher covid restrictions ahead. At a press conference this week, Pritzker noted that rather than a removal of the mask mandate and a pulling back of mitigations, covid restrictions may remain and be tightened up if numbers begin to rise like they did last fall. “If you go look at the hospitalizations – the new hospitalizations, as well as the ones that are, you know, existing in total – they are not dropping at the rate that they were dropping even a couple of weeks ago,” Pritzker said.... Read More

Illinois’ mask mandate could be off the table by Thanksgiving, according to comments made yesterday by Gov. JB Pritzker, allowing families to gather for the holidays without following covid mandates on the holiday to do list. During his weekly covid-19 status update for the state, Gov. Pritzker said he’s hoping to be able to lift mask mandates in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. “State health officials are continuing to watch the numbers to determine when the right time is to remove the mask mandate,” Pritzker said, while noting that he wasn’t going to be doing... Read More

As Illinois covid numbers continue to improve, pressure is mounting for Gov. JB Pritzker to remove the covid-19 restrictions and mask mandate which has been in place since August, but yesterday in a press conference Pritzker renewed the mask mandate and said it was still “way too early” to remove it. “If you go look at the hospitalizations — the new hospitalizations, as well as the ones that are, you know, existing in total — they are not dropping at the rate that they were dropping even a couple of weeks ago,” Pritzker said. “So I’m concerned about... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Good news this week for Illinois covid-19 numbers as Illinois became one of just six states nationwide to move from the high level of covid transmission (the highest) down to the substantial level. The state is now at 95 cases per 100,000 people; the cutoff for substantial is 100 per 100,000. The positive move has prompted speculation that the mask mandate and other restrictions Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker implemented late in the summer as numbers began to surge. “We’re watching to make sure that we’re on a good downward trajectory,” Pritzker said in a press conference. “That’s... Read More

Illinois schoolchildren ages 5-11 could be able to get the covid vaccine before the end of the year if the vaccine is approved as expected, according to reports. Pfizer and its German partner BioNtech have made a formal request to the Food and Drug Administration to extend emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. The two-dose vaccine is already authorized for children aged 12 to 15 and fully approved for ages 16 and up. If U.S. regulators approve the vaccine for younger children, schoolkids nationwide could begin getting shots before the end of the year. “We’re... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: With Gov. JB Pritzker’s covid restrictions still in place despite the virus’ numbers going down, the number of counterfeit covid-19 vaccination cards has increased in Illinois, and with that, the number of crackdowns on those cards. This week, an increasing number of counterfeit covid-19 vaccination cards in a shipment from China were seized by Chicago officials at O’Hare International Airport. Almost 50 of the counterfeit cards were taken, marking the second time in the past three weeks that a number of cards of that magnitude has been seized. U.S. Customs and... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: California is becoming the first state to mandate covid-19 vaccines for kids attending school once the shots are federally approved for their age groups, and with Illinois following many of the same paths as the most-populous U.S. state, could Illinois be next? Several school districts in California are already requiring the vaccine for students, and the statewide mandate will begin for grades 7-12, then move to K-6, by summer 2022, pending FDA approval of the vaccines for those age groups. “These requirements are working, across the country,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: The latest Illinois weekly covid-19 numbers are trending in a positive direction, with a third straight week of slowly declining numbers after two months of spiking cases. There were 21,787 new cases over the past week, a 16 percent decrease in infections over the previous week, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Deaths due to covid also fell about 16 percent from the previous week, and across the state, the positivity rate has dropped from 4.1 to 2.7 over the last week. Hospitals across the state also saw an 8 percent decline in covid patients, although southern... Read More