Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, in partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), industry leaders, labor leaders, and public officials from around Chicago, released industry-specific guidelines for businesses, employees, and customers to follow as the city prepares to begin safely reopening in early June.
Industry-specific guidelines include details such as how businesses can engage in healthy interactions between workers and customers, how to maintain safe working spaces and conditions, and how to design and monitor workplace operations to create flexibility and maintain safety for employees and customers.
Ivette Treviño, IHCC’s Senior Director of Business Development & Strategy, participated in the retail group on behalf of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Our organization listed as a partner here.
“Our transition to Phase Three of our reopening framework represents a major step for Chicago and our journey to a safe and successful recovery from the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis,” said Mayor Lightfoot.
The guidelines are aligned with the State-issued guidelines, with specificity included for Chicago’s context. Materials will be made available in Spanish this week.
Guidelines for the following industries, which will open the earliest in phase three in Chicago, can be found at www.chicago.gov/reopening.
Specific guidelines for sporting events, religious services, outdoor performances, summer programs and youth activities, the Lakefront, and museums will be available later in phase three when those entities are predicted to begin reopening.
The industry-specific guidelines were driven by health activity requirements and developed in coordination with 10 industry working groups, representing more than 200 individuals.
The guidelines were then reviewed by multiple key stakeholders and approved by CDPH to ensure businesses and industries will be protecting their employees and members of the public who may patronize them.
In order to support the more than 130,000 estimated Chicagoans who will head back to their places of work in phase three, a robust enforcement strategy, which will be led by the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and CDPH, will be put in place to keep employers, employees and customers safe.
This includes the portal where businesses can find the specific industry guidelines, local and national resources, self-certification questionnaires and FAQs.
Businesses or organizations with specific questions as they relate to their reopening in Chicago should reach out to 311.
BACP will hold a series of webinars beginning this Friday, May 29. For more information and to register, click here.
“As we begin the road to recovery, it is critical that all Chicago businesses follow the guidance released today to reopen safely and responsibly,” said Rosa Escareno, BACP Commissioner.
In addition to industry-specific guidelines, the City of Chicago developed an overall gathering size requirement for phase three, which limits non-essential gatherings to no more than 10 individuals.
As part of this requirement, “gathering” is defined as a planned or spontaneous event where individuals are interacting with non-household members within close proximity (less than six feet) for an extended time period for the same purpose.
Within Phase III, the following industries are opening first with specific safety guidelines:
• Childcare centers and family childcare
• Non-lakefront parks (no contact sports)
• Libraries and other city services
• Office-based jobs, professional services, and real estate services
• Hotels / lodging
• Outdoor attractions (e.g., boating – not including the Playpen, non-Lakefront golf courses)
• Non-essential retail
• Personal services (e.g., hair/nail salons, barbershops, tattoo parlors)
• Restaurants and coffee shops (outdoor dining only)
• Manufacturing, construction, and warehousing
• Hospitals, dentists, community mental health centers, and Federally Qualified Health Centers
• Public transit, regional transit, taxis and rideshare
• Gyms (outdoor and 1:1 personal training only)