Coronavirus

Chicago Travel Advisory: 9 States Added to List as COVID Cases Continue to Rise

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Chicago updated its travel advisory Tuesday, adding nine additional states to the list recommending that anyone entering the city from those areas test negative for COVID-19 or quarantine upon arrival.

The city added nine states - for a total of 14 states and one territory - back to the advisory, which is updated each week.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming were all added Tuesday, the Chicago Department of Public Health said.

They join Florida, Louisiana and Nevada, as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, which were added last week, plus Missouri and Arkansas which were added two weeks prior and all remain on the list.

Recent increases in COVID metrics pushed those newly added states over the threshold of 15 cases per day per 100,000 people to get onto the "orange" list. Any below that mark are on the "yellow" list, with public health officials still warning against non-essential travel.

"Any unvaccinated people traveling from these states and territories are advised to obtain a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 72 hours prior to arrival in Chicago or quarantine for a 10-day period upon arrival. Vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine or receive a negative test," CDPH said.

The case rates adjusted for population in each of the "orange" states was as follows, per CDPH:

Orange StatesDaily Infections Per 100K
Arkansas52.4
Louisiana43.8
Missouri39.2
Florida38.0
Alabama32.5
Virgin Islands23.9
Oklahoma21.3 
Nevada21.2 
Mississippi20.2
Alaska19.6 
Arizona17.5 
Texas 17.1 
Kansas 16.4 
Tennessee 16.1 
Wyoming 15.0 

CDPH said earlier this month that data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows "COVID case rates have been steadily increasing in other areas of the country."

The update to the travel advisory comes at a time when the average daily number of new cases in Chicago is up to 165 per day - a 76% increase over the previous week.

The city's average daily case rate was at 90 per day last week and 41 per day the week before that, meaning it's quadrupled in roughly three weeks - though it is still significantly lower than the more than 700 cases per day the city was seeing earlier this year and last, before vaccines were widely available.

Hospitalizations in Chicago are up 5% from last week, while deaths are down, and the positivity rate in testing is up to 2.6% as of Tuesday, up from 1.5% last week and 1% the week before.

“We remain well below our peak rates, but these recent increases are concerning,” CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said last week. “But what we have said all along hasn’t changed – if you want to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community, get vaccinated.”

Arwady noted earlier this month that about 99% of new COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated individuals.

The travel advisory will be updated every Tuesday, with any changes taking effect the following Friday.

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