CHICAGO (CBS) — Wisconsin, Missouri, North Dakota, and Nebraska have been added to Chicago’s emergency travel order, requiring travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days when they arrive in Chicago in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Starting Friday, travelers coming in from those four states will be included in the order, which already covered travel from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.
The city’s quarantine mandate requires anyone who is arriving in Chicago from states considered to be COVID-19 hot spots to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days when they arrive in the city, including visitors to Chicago, and residents who are returning from travel to one of the states. The list of states included in the order is updated weekly to include states with more than 15 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 resident population, per day, over a 7- day rolling average.
Anyone commuting from Chicago to Wisconsin for work will be exempt from the quarantine order, but the mayor’s office said they still must follow other requirements:
- They must limit their activities to work-related activities and functions that directly support their work, and avoid public spaces as much as possible.
- They should monitor their temperature and for any symptoms, wear a face covering when in public, maintain social distance, and clean and disinfect workspaces.
- They are required, to the extent possible, to avoid extended periods in public, contact with strangers, and large congregate settings.
The order also includes exemptions for essential workers, those traveling for medical treatment or parental shared custody, and those for whom self-quarantine ” is not possible, practicable or advisable, provided such exceptions continue to safeguard the public health.”
To date, no one has been fined for violating the city’s travel order, and the mayor’s office has said enforcement will essentially be on the honor system.
“This has really got to be about not just fining people into compliance, but understanding the risk factors out there and the risks that they’re taking for their own health and the risk factors for everyone they come into contact with,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday.
While cases of COVID-19 have also been rising sharply in Indiana, Lightfoot said Monday that Indiana has not yet met the threshold 15 new cases per 100,000 people to warrant addition to the quarantine list.
