Chicago amends travel advisory to cover counties nationwide

Chicago’s COVID-19 travel advisory will soon cover individual counties nationwide rather than simply states, officials announced Tuesday.

Starting Friday, counties nationwide will be designated as high, medium or low risk for COVID-19 transmission, based on COVID-related hospitalizations and local case counts. The change will align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 community dashboard.

“As we enter this new phase of the pandemic, it’s important for us to remember that all risk is local – and by aligning with the CDC’s COVID-19 community levels, we’re able to better recommend the prevention steps that align with the specific risk,” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement.

Chicagoans traveling to medium or high-risk areas are advised to wear a mask in indoor public places. Unvaccinated residents are advised to stay home and quarantine for five days after travel and to take a COVID-19 test at least three days upon their return.

Additionally, Arwady said she’s started to see a slight uptick in the city’s COVID-19 metrics. That’s not unexpected as mitigations are relaxed and more cases of the BA.2 omicron subvariant are reported, she said.

“It’s nothing to be alarmed about,” Arwady said. “(We’re) very much in control, but something we’re keeping a close eye on.”

The seven-day average for new daily cases in Chicago is 164, up 26 from the prior week. The seven-day positivity rate is 0.9 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the prior week.

As of Monday, 562 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, up 33 from Sunday and down 21 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 76 were in intensive care units, down 21 from Sunday and down 18 from the prior week. There were 35 patients on ventilators, down six from Sunday and down 12 from the prior week.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,442 new COVID-19 cases and 44 deaths on Tuesday.

The new cases bring the state total to 3,057,078, while the death toll is at 33,260.

The seven-day average for new cases on Tuesday was 1,066, down 185 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 17, down six from the prior week.

The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests is 1.2 percent. The seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests is 1.3 percent.

Eighty-one percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 72.2 percent are fully vaccinated.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 21,289,890 COVID-19 vaccines, including 4,247,582 booster doses. The seven-day average for doses administered is 7,412.