Chicagoans Traveling To 6o Percent Of U.S. Told To Quarantine

CHICAGO — Public health officials Tuesday added five states — Colorado, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia and Texas — to the city's list of coronavirus hotspots that require travelers to abide by a two-week self-quarantine.

As of Tuesday, the quarantine list requires travelers entering or returning to Chicago from COVID-19 hotspots to self-quarantine included 60 percent of states and Puerto Rico.

Only six states – California, Oregon, Hawaii, Vermont, Louisiana and Kentucky – saw a decrease in case counts over the past week, reflecting a national trend of sharp increases in daily COVID-19 cases also seen in Chicago and Illinois.

"This is a sign that we all need to double down on COVID precautions: wearing a mask, washing your hands frequently, practicing social distancing, limiting interaction with those not in your COVID ‘bubble’ and staying home if sick," city public health officials said in a statement.
Under the travel quarantine order essential workers are exempt if they must travel for work but must limit their activities to work-related activities and avoid public spaces as much as possible, officials said.

Folks traveling for medical care and parental shared custody reasons, as well as to travelers passing through designated states for less than 24 hours in the course of travel, also are exempt from the self-quarantine mandate, officials said. However, if your final destination is a state on the designated list, then you must quarantine for 14 days, even if you are in that state for less than 24 hours.

Starting Friday the emergency travel quarantine order affects people traveling to: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.