Maryland Removed From Chicago’s Travel Advisory

CHICAGO — Maryland is being removed from Chicago’s travel advisory, marking the first time in 2022 the entire United States won’t be on the list.

Maryland is the only state to be removed from the advisory, meaning 48 states and four territories are still on the list. It’s possible three states and three territories could come off the list next week, according to a Mayor’s Office news release.

Unvaccinated travelers from places on the list should get a COVID-19 test one to three days before their trip and three to five days after arriving in Chicago, according to the health advisory. Unvaccinated people are also asked to quarantine for at least seven days upon arrival in the city, even if they get a negative test; those who don’t get tested are asked to quarantine for 10 days.

The quarantine and test rules do not apply for travelers who are fully vaccinated.

All people must wear masks on public transportation — including planes, buses and trains — and people must wear masks indoors in public in Chicago. Travelers are also asked to avoid crowds as much as possible and wash their hands or use sanitizer.

And unvaccinated people who traveled should avoid being around people at increased risk for severe illness — like older people and immunocompromised people — for at least 14 days, regardless of their test results, according to the health department.

All travelers are asked to watch themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 and to isolate and get tested if they have symptoms.

Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the Chicago Department of Public Health, has previously urged Chicagoans who aren’t fully vaccinated not to travel, as they could be at risk.

Vaccinations:

• In Illinois, about 8 million people — or 63.56 percent of the state’s 12.7 million people — are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to state data.

• Across the state, 18,250 vaccine doses are being administered per day, based on a seven-day rolling average.

• Illinois and Chicago have administered at least 21,042,269 vaccine doses of the 23,759,825 provided to them.

• City data shows more than 1.8 million Chicagoans — or 68.8 percent of all residents — are fully vaccinated, and 76.4 percent of all Chicagoans have gotten at least one shot.

Everyone 5 and older is eligible to get vaccinated in Chicago.

COVID-19 vaccinations are free and do not require insurance. Anyone can call the city’s coronavirus hotline at 312-746-4835 to get more information on how and where to get vaccinated in their community.

The numbers:

• Since Tuesday, 85 Illinoisans were reported dead from COVID-19.

• At least 32,517 people have died from COVID-19 in Illinois, and another 4,097 deaths are probably related to the virus, according to the state.

• The state reported 2,733 cases since Tuesday. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois up to 3,022,684.

• Since Tuesday, 86,515 tests were reported statewide. In all, 54,055,396 tests have been reported in Illinois.

• Illinois’ seven-day case positivity rate was at 1.9 percent. The figure represents the percentage of people testing positive among recent tests. It was at 2 percent Tuesday.

• Illinois’ seven-day test positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that were positive, was at 2.6 percent. It was at 2.6 percent Tuesday.

• As of Tuesday night, 250 people with COVID-19 were in the ICU and 118 people with COVID-19 were using ventilators in Illinois.

• In Chicago, 22 deaths were reported since Tuesday. There have been at least 7,199 deaths from COVID-19 in Chicago. The city is seeing an average of four people dying per day, down 59 percent from a week ago.

• Chicago has had 337 confirmed cases reported since Tuesday. It’s had a total of 556,111 confirmed cases. An average of 278 confirmed cases are being reported per day, down 33 percent from a week ago.

• Testing in Chicago is down 9 percent from a week ago.

• Chicago’s positivity rate was at 1.5 percent, down from 1.9 percent a week ago.

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