Chicago issues indoor mask advisory for everyone over 2; COVID-19 cases up nearly 50% in Illinois over the past week
The city of Chicago now recommends that everyone over 2 wear masks when indoors as the delta variant spreads and the city passes 200 new COVID-19 cases a day.
The move, announced Friday, comes after the CDC recommended that people wear masks indoors in areas with “substantial and high transmission” of the virus. Chicago surpassed 200 new COVID cases per day Friday, the public health department said.
While not a requirement, “the updated mask guidance is strongly encouraged,” a city official said. Outdoor mask wearing remains optional.
“We are taking this step to prevent further spread of the very contagious delta variant and to protect public health,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, city public health commissioner, in a statement. “This isn’t forever, but it is necessary to help decrease the risk for all Chicagoans right now.”
Chicago Public Schools previously announced that everyone inside its schools — regardless of vaccine status — will need to be masked when the new academic year starts Aug. 30.
The new mask recommendation came down the same day state health officials said the number of new coronavirus cases in Illinois had increased by nearly 50% from the previous week. It’s the latest sign of a fourth wave of infections in the state that experts attribute to sluggish vaccination rates and the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19.
Illinois health officials Friday reported 2,348 new confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, the second time in three days the tally has topped 2,000. Over the past seven days, the state has averaged 1,669 new daily cases, up roughly 46% from the previous week’s average of 1,140 cases per day.
The statewide average remains well below the peak of 3,390 daily cases recorded in mid-April during the spring surge — the smallest of the previous three waves of COVID-19 and the only one during which some portion of the population was vaccinated. But new information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and can be transmitted by fully vaccinated people is raising alarms.
Still, while state officials announced earlier this week that Illinois would adopt CDC guidelines recommending masks be worn indoors while in public regardless of vaccination status in counties where the virus is surging, Gov. J.B. Pritzker had yet to adjust his COVID-19 restrictions, aside from ordering that masks be worn at all state facilities under his control. Secretary of State Jesse White earlier had announced a similar requirement for driver services facilities, the state Capitol and other offices under his jurisdiction.
Cook County on Thursday joined DuPage, McHenry and Will counties in meeting the criteria for the new federal mask recommendations. As of Friday 89 of 102 Illinois counties were under that guidance with either “substantial” or “high” transmission.
In Chicago, the average number of new daily cases had been inching closer to 200 — the benchmark Mayor Lori Lightfoot said could trigger more restrictions — and is now up to 206, according to city figures release Friday. The upward trend comes at an inopportune time, with the massive Lollapalooza music festival underway in Grant Park.
Fest officials tweeted Thursday, Lollapalooza’s opening day, that more than 90% of attendees showed up with proof of having been vaccinated, while 8% showed proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Six hundred people were turned away because they didn’t have either, according to the tweet.
The Chicago Department of Public Health’s Friday announcement made no mention of the festival but recommended that “businesses, employers and event organizers require universal masking in all public indoor settings.” Outdoors, the new guidance says, masks are still optional and “no changes are being made to the recommendations for social distancing.”
Along with new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations are once again on the rise in Illinois.
As of Thursday night, 903 people were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19, bringing the seven-day average for hospitalizations to 796, the highest level since the week ending June 9, when the state was averaging 816 coronavirus patients in the hospital each day. Hospitalizations were up 39% from a week earlier, when the state average was 572 per day.
A Tribune analysis of state and federal data show that the risk of hospitalization has nearly tripled among unvaccinated Illinoisans in the last three weeks, while being largely unchanged among those fully vaccinated.
The latest weekly data, through Wednesday, shows the rate of hospital admittances has climbed beyond 12 per 100,000 residents who aren’t fully vaccinated. That’s still far below the rate of 35 around Thanksgiving, during the peak of the fall surge, but still far more than the current rate of those fully vaccinated, which has remained less than 1 per 100,000 residents, even with the latest case surge.
City officials also continued to stress the importance of getting more people vaccinated in order to reverse the current coronavirus upswing.
“Last year, before safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines were widely available, Chicago only had 13 days between mid-March and the end of the year with fewer than 200 cases per day. In contrast, before today Chicago had consistently been below that benchmark since late May 2021. We thank all of the Chicagoans who have already made the choice to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to help protect themselves, their families, and Chicago,” the CDPH statement said.
Also Friday, the state’s largest public college, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, began requiring face coverings for everyone at school facilities, regardless of vaccination status. Champaign County shifted from a “substantial” to “high” transmission Friday, based on a CDC metric.
The secretary of state’s office, meanwhile, on Friday laid out steps it’s taking to reduce the volume of customers seeking to renew driver’s licenses and conduct other business at its driver services facilities.
Beginning in September, people will be able to schedule appointments at most Chicago-area driver services facilities. The office also plans to expand remote renewals for driver’s licenses and state identification cards over the next six months, allowing an estimated 1 million additional people renew online, by mail or over the phone. Those eligible will receive notice by mail.
Chicago Tribune’s Tracy Swartz and John Byrne contributed.
