Ind. may make Chicago’s quarantine list
City’s residents ‘strongly advised’ to avoid crossing the border after recent reopening
Indiana is again in danger of being added to Chicago’s quarantine travel order next week, Chicago’s top doctor announced Tuesday while disapproving of the neighboring state’s recent reopening.
Though Indiana is still just at a warning level, Chicago residents are “strongly advised” to avoid traveling there, according to a city news release. Chicago adds a state to its quarantine list if it averages more than 15 new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period. People who have spent more than 24 hours in the high-risk states are required to self-quarantine for 14 days after entering Chicago.
Indiana already has passed that threshold, but to allow Chicagoans enough time to rearrange their travel plans, the city will wait to see if it improves its numbers next week.
“I am very concerned that Indiana is a state that is wishing that COVID were over, and it’s not,” Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s public health commissioner, said during an unrelated Tuesday news conference. “I would encourage Chicago residents if they are going to be traveling to Indiana, do the things that you know work. Wear your mask. Keep your distance, wash your hands. Be especially careful.”
Two weeks ago, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb moved the state up to stage five of its “Back on Track” plan, which almost completely reopens the state except for a mask requirement. But Arwady implied during a Tuesday Q&A that the move was the opposite of getting back on track.
“I’m particularly concerned about Indiana because they have really moved ahead to what would be the equivalent of our phase five here (and) have lifted nearly all of the restrictions that have been in place and that have helped to control COVID,” Arwady said.
Earlier last month, Arwady warned Indiana was having issues with its coronavirus positivity rates, especially near college towns South Bend and Muncie. But the state ended up faring better in the coming weeks and was not added.
Arwady had harsher words for Chicago’s neighbor to the north, Wisconsin, which was placed back on the list two weeks ago — the second time that state was a problem area for Chicago’s quarantine order.
“Unfortunately, Wisconsin honestly is having one of the worst outbreaks that I have seen in any state to date,” Arwady said. “A lot of the restrictions that have been shown to work when an
outbreak is in poor control are broadly not in place across Wisconsin.”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has been embroiled in an ongoing battle with state Republicans over his coronavirus restrictions since the start of the pandemic. Most recently, he issued an order Tuesday limiting public indoor gatherings.
Along with other Midwestern states, Wisconsin is grappling with surging infections and overcrowded hospitals as officials warn of a second wave of infections across America. Other bordering states that Arwady noted continue to struggle with clamping down on the virus were Iowa and Missouri.
“A lot of our neighboring states are really not doing very well right now from a COVID perspective,” Arwady said. “I can’t control other states. But what all of us can control is whether we continue to practice the things that we know help.”
Other updates to the quarantine list on Tuesday included the addition of Alaska, which goes into effect Friday, and the immediate removal of Georgia and Texas.
The order now covers 22 states and territories. They are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s self-quarantine requirement was implemented during the Fourth of July weekend. Though the order is generally not being enforced aside from signs and billboards telling people that they must self-quarantine, violators are subject to fines of $100 to $500 per day, up to $7,000.
Exceptions to the selfquarantine order include essential workers, those traveling for medical treatment and those for whom “selfquarantine is not possible, practicable or advisable.” The order also does not apply to people who are at the airport for a connecting flight or are driving through the city on their way elsewhere.
For Wisconsin, the order applies to those traveling from the state to Chicago for nonwork purposes, but there are exceptions for those seeking medical care, people tending to shared parental custody and essential workers. But for everyone else, even if they stay for less than 24 hours, the quarantine order applies.
Indiana will be subject to those same exceptions should it be added to the list next week, a city spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s rolling positivity rate remains stable at 4.3%, city figures from Monday showed. Arwady said the city ranks second among the state’s 11 regions for lowest percent positivity, behind Urbana-Champaign, where the University of Illinois is mass testing its students.
Though the number of cases averaged over seven days has gone up to 329, Arwady tempered that testing also has ballooned to record numbers and that the recent rollback in business restrictions announced last month has not been in place long enough to translate to coronavirus tests.
“Certainly, my mood rises and falls a little bit with our COVID cases every day, as I’m sure many of yours does,” Arwady said. “We’re keeping a really close eye on this and please know that if we start to see significant signs of concern, we won’t hesitate to take action.”