Indiana, Wisconsin, 10 other states removed from Chicago's COVID-19 travel advisory
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Maryland is being removed from the city's travel advisory this week, the first state to be removed from the list since the beginning of the year.
As the Omicron surge reached its peak in early January, every state and territory in the U.S. was listed among the places where here public health officials officials recommend unvaccinated people take extra COVID-19 precautions when visiting.
For the first time this year, the entire U.S. is not on our weekly COVID-19 Travel Advisory after Maryland was removed.
— CDPH | Chicago Department of Public Health (@ChiPublicHealth) February 23, 2022
For any state to be removed, it must have a daily COVID case rate of under 15 per 100k residents for two consecutive weeks. pic.twitter.com/WnV9WZwkS8
States and territories can be removed from the city's travel advisory when their case rates drop below 15 per 100,000 residents for two weeks in a row.
With COVID-19 cases now plummeting nationwide, Maryland is the first state to come off the list since the first week of January, and the Chicago Department of Public Health said three more states and three territories -- Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands -- could be removed from the list next week if they keep their case rates below the threshold for the travel advisory.
"Though one state has come off our advisory, and Chicago and Illinois now have our lowest daily COVID-19 case rates in months, the virus is still with us, in Chicago and around the country," CDPH Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement. "The fact remains that nearly every state or territory is on the advisory. So if you're not vaccinated you are at the highest possible risk of getting COVID-19, and you still should adhere to the guidance in the advisory."
City officials recommend people who aren't vaccinated get tested for COVID one to three days before heading to a state or territory on the travel advisory list, and again three to five days before returning to Chicago.
Public health officials also recommend unvaccinated people who visit a state or territory on the travel advisory list quarantine for at least seven days upon arriving in Chicago, even if they test negative. Unvaccinated people who don't get a COVID test should quarantine for at least 10 days.
For international travel, the CDC now requires that all travelers, regardless of vaccination status or citizenship, get a negative COVID-19 viral test no more than 1 day before travel into the United States.
Anyone who is traveling is required to wear a mask on public transportation – including planes, trains, and buses – regardless of their vaccination status. An indoor mask mandate also remains in place for public places in all of Illinois, and Chicago and most of suburban Cook County also require people age 5 and up to show proof of vaccination at restaurants, bars, gyms, and other indoor venues that serve food and drinks.