When it comes to how’s the COVID picture today, there are two basic categories: Health Wise and Legal Wise. From the health perspective, Vermilion County Public Health Administrator Douglas Toole says the reason IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have put out some alerts lately is because some familiar variants are still around.
AUDIO: A newer version of Omicron is still the prevalent one. But we’re starting to see some more of Delta coming back in the state. It had been kind of squeezed out by Omicron. Omicron had fairly light symptoms for people, and Delta was a bit more serious. So I’m not happy to see Delta starting to make the rounds again.
Toole says, pay attention to what’s going on and keep up to date. Right now, Vermilion County is not having major upticks.
AUDIO: We are still, happily, in a low transmission area. We do not have a lot of hospitalizations or serious cases of COVID. The county is hoping to keep it that way.
Then, there’s the legal perspective. Attorney Bethany Hager has been representing numerous parties in battles against COVID rules, such as District 118 teachers fighting against required COVID vaccinations and required COVID testing. Hager says a case now appealed by her to the Illinois Supreme Court will have those teachers watching. Though they are not a specific plaintiff in the case; Hager says other parties, such as teachers, city workers, and firefighters in different parts of the state are part of it.
AUDIO: I have one teacher out of Piatt County, who was the only teacher in her school district that was willing to take a stand on this. The other two cases that are consolidated on appeal; there’s a couple of firefighters from the city of Pekin, and then a lot of state employees from agencies all around the state, including Department of Corrections.
Hager says it’s a continuation of the argument, ‘who makes the final call.’
AUDIO: These questions of whether a vaccine mandate is public health policy, or if it’s simply a matter of workplace health and safety; which there’s some latitude for employers. If something is simply a matter of workplace safety, employers have some latitude to set their own policies.
Hager says the defendants in the appeal will first have a chance to respond before a definite date is set.
