Chicago ordering a 30-day stay-at-home advisory starting Monday

The city of Chicago on Thursday announced a 30-day stay-at-home advisory to take effect next week as Illinois and other states across the country are experiencing a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases. 

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), who announced the order in a news conference Thursday afternoon, said the city would also be imposing other restrictions on gatherings and public activities, which Lightfoot said “calls on all Chicagoans to follow clear measures to protect their community and help us flatten the curve.”

“Chicago has reached a critical point in the second surge of COVID-19, demanding that we undertake this multi-faceted and comprehensive effort to stop the virus in its tracks,” Lightfoot said. 

“The gains we have made this past year have been the result of our willingness to work together,” she added. “Even in this difficult moment, we will continue to unite as we always have for our city in order to halt the rise we’re seeing, shake out of the fatigue we’ve been experiencing, and make the crucial difference in what our future is going to look like.”

The measures, scheduled to take effect 6 a.m. Monday, urge Chicago residents to only leave their homes for essential activities, such as school or grocery shopping, not hold gatherings with anyone outside of a person’s immediate household, avoid all nonessential travel and to not gather in person with friends and extended family on holidays such as Thanksgiving. 

Lightfoot, who also outlined the new advisories on Twitter using the hashtag #ProtectChicago, added that the city would also be imposing a 10-person limit to meetings and social gatherings, both inside and outside. 

EFFECTIVE MONDAY: I’m issuing a Stay-at-Home Advisory asking all Chicagoans to only leave their homes for essential needs, including work and school. More info ➡️ https://t.co/zDpEmEUk6c. #ProtectChicago pic.twitter.com/DAjuqfuRPP

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) November 12, 2020

Lightfoot also tweeted that the Chicago Department of Public Health “will be deploying approximately 2,000 City workers, including up to 550 contact tracers, and a network of hundreds of community-based organizations to reach at least half of all Chicago households.”

Contact tracers will support phone banking, door knocking and a peer-to-peer text campaign. 1,100 Safe Passage workers will be passing out helpful informational materials in high-traffic public places, and they will distribute door hangers as will traffic aides from @ChicagoOEMC.

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) November 12, 2020

Lightfoot also shared a message to those attempting to maintain their jobs amid a surge in cases, writing “I want our essential workers to know that you are supported by your city. If you feel your job is in jeopardy because of your health, please contact the City of Chicago at 311.”

Too many of our low-wage employees are going in because they’re afraid their jobs won’t be protected. I want our essential workers to know that you are supported by your city. If you feel your job is in jeopardy because of your health, please contact the City of Chicago at 311.

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) November 12, 2020

The announcement comes after Lightfoot’s office said Monday that the city would be implementing increased restrictions in the near future. 

“We want to be very smart and strategic and data driven,” the mayor said at the time, according to NBC’s Chicago affiliate station, WMAQ-TV. “Because as I said, while we feel like the surge that we’re experiencing now is the same or worse than the spring, we’ve learned a tremendous amount since then.”

As of Wednesday, Chicago has recorded a total of more than 122,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city, as well as an average of more than 1,900 new infections per day in the past week. 

The state of Illinois has seen a double-digit percentage increase in newly confirmed cases in the past week, with the state’s Department of Public Health recording a total of 536,542 infections and 10,477 deaths as a result of the virus as of Thursday.

— Updated at 6:45 p.m.