CHICAGO (CBS) — As COVID-19 cases continue to slowly rise in Chicago, city health officials say the city is now at “medium risk” level, and they recommend people resume wearing masks indoors again.
The Chicago Department of Public Health also said Chicagoans should make sure they are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, get tested if they’re exposed to the virus, and continue to follow isolation and quarantine protocols if they test positive.
“We’ve been expecting to reach the Medium Level for some time now,” CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement. “It’s not a cause for alarm, since most cases right now are mild and thankfully our COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths remain at or near all-time pandemic lows in Chicago. But it is reason for more caution, and for more care with masking, since more people in Chicago are infected with COVID right now. Remember that people can spread COVID for two days before they develop symptoms, so putting on a mask in public indoor settings is an easy way to help protect our city while we’re at a Medium COVID Level.”
The move to the medium risk level comes as Chicago’s latest daily case average has risen to 754 cases per day, up 16% over the past week. The city’s average positivity rate stands at 4.1%, up from 3.7% one week ago.
“Chicago moving into the Medium Level does not mean a citywide mask mandate, restrictions on public gatherings, or reinstatement of vaccination requirements at this time,” Arwady said. “With the way the current COVID variants are behaving, those are measures we would consider if we reached the High COVID-19 community level—which we aren’t close to reaching in Chicago right now. But we obviously don’t want to get there, and exercising some more caution now will help us keep COVID in control in Chicago.”
DuPage, Lake, and suburban Cook counties also moved to medium risk within the last two weeks.
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