Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that the state is offering more than 20,000 HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) purifiers at no cost to Day Care Centers in Illinois to help reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. To receive air purifiers, plus a three-year supply of filters, Day Care providers must fill out an online request form by July 31. The federally funded offer is open to all licensed Illinois Day Care providers outside Chicago. IDPH is coordinating the $10 million investment with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), which licenses Day Care Centers in Illinois. SHIELD Illinois, the non-profit University of Illinois program established in 2020 as a response to the pandemic, is assisting IDPH by managing customer service and delivery of the units. The effort is the third phase of a previously announced IDPH program to provide HEPA air purifiers to K-12 schools throughout Illinois and to Head Start Programs in Illinois. It is funded through the CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control (ELC) Reopening Schools program. IDPH is launching an enrollment process that allows Day Care Centers to submit orders for portable HEPA air purifiers. Grantees will generally be eligible for one small unit for each classroom, with a limited number of larger units available for sites that serve large numbers of students.