Chicago Travel Advisory Update May Be Delayed Due to Holiday: Top Doc

Chicago's travel advisory was set for another update on Tuesday, one week after nearly every U.S. state was added to the list and changes to the policy were announced just before the Labor Day holiday weekend.

But it remains unclear the update will be released Tuesday or Wednesday as metrics were delayed due to the long Labor Day holiday weekend.

"Because yesterday was a holiday, all of the sort of CDC national data was actually not updated yesterday so we will be updating our travel advisory and we'll put it out, you know, either later today or possibly tomorrow," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a Facebook Live Tuesday.

Arwady noted that a "huge majority of the country still remains on the list" and "travel remains a high risk activity for people who are unvaccinated."

In last week's update, every U.S. state except Vermont was added to the travel advisory's "orange" category, which recommends unvaccinated travelers from such locations test negative for COVID-19 and quarantine.

"So unfortunately COVID is surging across the entire United States," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during last week's update. "The average right now is at 39 cases per 100,000 per day. We're doing much better than that here in Chicago, but nevertheless the news remains not good from a COVID perspective at the national level."

States are added to the advisory's "orange list" when COVID metrics rise above the threshold of 15 cases per day per 100,000 people. Any below that mark are on the "yellow" list, with public health officials still warning against non-essential travel.

Last week, the city also updated its guidance for what unvaccinated travelers visiting or returning from such locations should do, adding new testing and quarantining recommendations before and after travel.

According to the city, before travel, unvaccinated individuals should:

• Get tested 3-5 days prior to departure.

While traveling:

• ALL individuals regardless of vaccination status should wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States and while indoors at U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations.
• In Chicago, wear a mask in all indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status.
• Avoid crowds, try to stay at least 6 feet/2 meters (about 2 arm lengths) from anyone who is not traveling with you, and wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol).

 After travel, unvaccinated individuals should:

• Get tested with a viral test 3-5 days after travel AND stay home and self-quarantine for a full 7 days.
• Even if you test negative, stay home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days.
• If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected.
• If you don’t get tested, stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel.
• Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days, whether you get tested or not.

The city advised all travelers to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms and isolate and get tested if they develop any after travel.

"We have seen and know that travel is a significant risk factor for acquiring COVID," Arwady said. "If you decide not to get tested, the recommendation is actually to stay home and self quarantine for 10 days after travel, and you should avoid being around anybody who has an increased risk for severe COVID outcomes for 14 days after travel regardless of whether you get tested or not. Obviously we want anybody who's traveling to self monitor for COVID symptoms and get tested if you develop symptoms."

This week's update to the travel advisory comes at a time when the average daily number of new cases in Chicago is up to 486 per day - a 1% increase over the previous week.

That figure is also more than 12 times the low of 34 that the city saw in late June but remains lower than the more than 700 cases per day the city was seeing during the most recent surge earlier this year.

Hospitalizations in Chicago are down 19% from the previous week and deaths are flat from the week prior, per the city's data. The positivity rate in testing is down to 4.2% this week, a drop from 4.3% in the last week.

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

States and Territories on the advisory include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.  

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