Governor’s Office Daily COVID-19 Q & A
April 26, 2020
Professional Licensure
Q: Where can therapists who have varying degrees of face-to-face clinical, supervisory, or experiential requirements necessary for licensure find information?
A: Please visit https://www.idfpr.com/COVID-19.asp for the most up to date information on Healthcare Professions.
Safe Workplace
Q: How can a business properly disinfect their facilities or offices if a worker has a confirmed COVID19 case?
A: The CDC recommends that businesses clean and disinfect all areas used by the person who tested positive for COVID-19, such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines. The CDC provides detailed instructions here https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/disinfecting-building-facility.html.
Local health departments are responsible for interviewing COVID-19 positive employees and identifying close contacts of that employee, with assistance from the employer for close contacts within the workplace.
Q: Are food and meat processing facilities and workplaces with assembly lines required to respond to inquiries by their local health department?
A: Per the Illinois Control of Communicable Disease Code, 77 Ill. Adm. Code 690, facilities are required to respond to and collaborate with IDPH and their local health department. This includes allowing visits to the facility for an assessment and responding to requests for information including, but not limited to:
• The employer’s current practices to reduce risk to employees;
• A complete list of employees;
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• A complete list of employees who have called off sick, broken down by date; and
• Prompt reports of any COVID-19 cases that the facility has identified in either Illinois residents or residents of other states to the local health department within 24 hours.
Q: What requirements must be met for a recovered COVID-19 healthcare employee to return to the workplace?
A: The CDC recommends the test-based strategy should be used including: (A) absence of fever without fever-reducing medications, (B) vast improvement of respiratory symptoms, and (C) negative results from a nasal swab test. If the test-based strategy cannot be used, please see CDC guidelines for further direction https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/return-to-work.html.
IDPH and local health departments may provide specific suggestions on how to reduce risk to employees from acquiring COVID-19, including holding teleconferences to review the situation at the facility and providing suggestions for risk reduction. Please contact your local health department.
Student Loan
Q: I think my loan servicer is not cooperating with me. Is there anyone I can contact?
A: Yes, borrowers experiencing trouble are encouraged to contact the following:
• IDFPR Division of Banking at (217) 785-2900 or file a complaint here https://www.idfpr.com/admin/banks/DoBcomplaints.asp.
• Illinois’ Attorney General Student Loan Helpline at 1-800-455-2456 or file a complaint here https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/filecomplaint.html.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to file a complaint here https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/.
Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standard Board (ILETSB)
Q: What does ILETSB plan on doing regarding training classes for current cadets?
A: ILETSB intends to continue training for the current cadet class. The Board will work closely with IDPH and ISP to ensure safety protocol and guidelines are followed.
Oral Health
Q: Are dental and orthodontist offices allowed to re-open?
A: Under Executive Order 2020-10 and as extended by Executive Order 2020-18, dentists and orthodontist offices were not required to close. The instruction was to temporarily halt elective surgeries and cater to patients experiencing a medical emergency. Guidance on elective surgeries from DPH is forthcoming. Infection prevention and control guidance is provided on the CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/dental-settings.html.