Effective March 21, 2020 all residents of the State of Illinois are subject to a “Stay at Home” Order. 

What does the order mean?

For individuals:

• It literally means everyone should stay at home or place of residence unless they are exempt as provided for in the Executive Order.
• If you go outside for a walk, you must, as much as reasonably possible, maintain social distancing of at least six feet from any other person.
• You may only leave your house
  • For “Essential Activities”,
  • For “Essential Governmental Functions”, or
  • to operate “Essential Businesses and Operations”, all as defined below.
• Elderly people and those who are vulnerable as a result of illness and therefore at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19, are urged to stay in their residence to the extent possible except as necessary to seek medical care.

“Essential Activities” are:

• Activities for health and safety of you, your family or household members (including pets)
  1. seeking emergency services,
  2. obtaining medical supplies or medication, or
  3. visiting a health care professional.

• Activities to obtain necessary supplies and services for you, your family or household members, or to deliver those services or supplies to others
  1. groceries and food,
  2. household consumer products,
  3. supplies they need to work from home, and
  4. products necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences.

• Outdoor activities, such as walking, hiking, running, or biking, provided the individuals maintain, as much as reasonably possible, a distance of at least six feet from any other person.
  1. public parks and open outdoor recreation areas are open
  2. playgrounds may increase spread of COVID-19, and therefore shall be closed.

• Activities to perform work providing essential products and services at Essential Businesses or Operations including Minimum Basic Operations.
• Activities to take care of a family member, friend, or pet in another household, and to transport family members, friends, or pets for Essential Activities
• Activities to provide any services or perform any work necessary to offer, provision, operate, maintain and repair “Essential Infrastructure”, which includes:
  1. food production, distribution, and sale;
  2. construction;
  3. building management and maintenance;
  4. airport operations;
  5. operation and maintenance of utilities, including water, sewer, gas and electrical;
  6. distribution centers;
  7. oil and biofuel refining;
  8. roads, highways, railroads, and public transportation;
  9. ports;
  10. cybersecurity operations;
  11. flood control;
  12. solid waste and recycling collection and removal; and
  13. internet, video, and telecommunications systems.

• Activities that support “Essential Governmental Functions”.

For businesses:

• Non-essential business and operations must cease except “Minimum Basic Operations”, as defined below.
• Business that are exclusively “work from home” meaning they perform all functions exclusively at their own residences are exempt.
• All Essential Businesses and Operations are encouraged to remain open, but to the greatest extent feasible, such businesses should be maintaining six-foot social distancing for both employees and members of the public at all times, including, but not limited to, when any customers are standing in line.
• Fitness and exercise gyms, spas, salons, barber shops, tattoo parlors, and similar facilities are closed.
• Businesses covered include any for-profit, non-profit, or educational entities, regardless of the nature of the service, the function it performs, or its corporate or entity structure.

“Essential Businesses and Operations” are:

• Healthcare and Public Health Operations,
• Human Services Operations,
• Essential Governmental Functions,
• Essential Infrastructure, and
• the following:
  1. Stores that sell groceries and medicine.
  2. Restaurants for consumption off-premises.
  3. Food, beverage, and cannabis production and agriculture.
  4. Licensed medical and adult use cannabis dispensaries and licensed cannabis cultivation centers.
  5. Businesses that provide food, shelter, and other necessities of life for animals, including animal shelters, rescues, shelters, kennels, and adoption facilities.
  6. Organizations that provide charitable and social services.
  7. Newspapers, television, radio, and other media services.
  8. Gas stations, auto­supply, auto-repair, and related transportation facilities and bicycle shops and related facilities.
  9. Financial institutions, including currency exchanges, consumer lenders, payday lenders, pawnbrokers, consumer installment lenders and sales finance lenders, credit unions, appraisers, title companies, financial markets, trading and futures exchanges, affiliates of financial institutions, entities that issue bonds, related financial institutions, and institutions selling financial products.
  10. Hardware and hardware supply stores.
  11. Critical trades, including building and construction tradespeople, plumbers, electricians, exterminators, cleaning and janitorial staff for commercial and governmental properties, security staff, operating engineers, HVAC, painting, moving and relocation services, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences, Essential Activities, and Essential Businesses and Operations.
  12. Mail, post, shipping, logistics, delivery, and pick-up services.
  13. Educational institutions, including public and private pre-K-12 schools, colleges, and universities, for purposes of facilitating distance learning, performing critical research, or performing essential functions, provided that social distancing of six-feet per person is maintained to the greatest extent possible.
  14. Laundry services, laundromats, dry cleaners, industrial laundry services.
  15. Businesses that sell, manufacture, or supply products needed for people to work from home.
  16. Businesses that sell, manufacture, or supply other Essential Businesses and Operations with the supplies or materials necessary to operate.
  17. Transportation providers such as airlines, taxis, Uber, Lyft, vehicle rental services, paratransit, and other private, public, and commercial transportation and logistics providers.
  18. Home-based care for adults, seniors, children, and people with developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, substance use disorders, and/or mental illness.
  19. Residential facilities and shelters for adults, seniors, children, and/or people with developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, substance use disorders, and/or mental illness.
  20. Professional services, such as legal services, accounting services, insurance services, real estate services (including appraisal and title services).
  21. Day care centers for employees exempted by the Executive Order.
  22. Manufacture, distribution, and supply chain for critical products and industries, such as pharmaceutical, technology, biotechnology, healthcare, chemicals and sanitization, waste pickup and disposal, agriculture, food and beverage, transportation, energy, steel and steel products, petroleum and fuel, mining, construction, national defense, communications.
  23. Critical labor union functions.
  24. Hotels and motels, to the extent used for lodging and delivery or carry-out food services.
  25. Funeral related services.

Minimum Basic Operations (provided that employees comply with Social Distancing Requirements) are:

• The minimum necessary activities to maintain the value of the business’s inventory, preserve the condition of the business’s physical plant and equipment, ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits, or for related functions.
• The minimum necessary activities to facilitate employees of the business being able to continue to work remotely from their residences.

Prohibited activities:

• All public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit are prohibited.
• All places of public amusement, whether indoors or outdoors, including but not limited to, locations with amusement rides, carnivals, amusement parks, water parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, arcades, fairs, children’s play centers, playgrounds, funplexes, theme parks, bowling alleys, movie and other theaters, concert and music halls, and country clubs or social clubs shall be closed to the public.

Prohibited and permitted travel: 

• All travel by automobile, motorcycle, scooter, bicycle, train, plane, or public transit is prohibited except for travel required for “Essential Activities” described above.
• People riding on public transit must comply with Social Distancing Requirements to the greatest extent feasible.

What are the Social Distancing Requirements?

For purposes of the Executive Order, Social Distancing Requirements include:

For everyone:

• maintaining at least six-foot social distancing from other individuals,
• washing hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds as frequently as possible, or
• using hand sanitizer,
• covering coughs or sneezes (into the sleeve or elbow, not hands),
• regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces, and
• not shaking hands.

For businesses:

• Designate six-foot distances with signage, tape, or by other means assuring six-foot spacing for employees and customers in line to maintain appropriate distance.
• Having hand sanitizer and sanitizing products readily available for employees and customers.
• Implementing separate operating hours for elderly and vulnerable customers; and
• Posting online whether a facility is open and how best to reach the facility and continue services by phone or remotely.

Additional note on evictions: All state, county, and local law enforcement officers in the State of Illinois are instructed to cease enforcement of orders of eviction for residential premises for the duration of the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation.