Five More States Added To Chicago's Travel Advisory List

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago is adding five more states to its travel advisory as COVID cases begin to resurge across the country.

"On our travel advisory the five states that were added are Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Utah, as well as Puerto Rico," said Dr. Allison Arwady of the Chicago Public Department of Health.

Last week, nine states were added to Chicago's travel advisory.

There are a total of 19 areas (states and territories) in the city's travel order as of Tuesday.

The Chicago Department of Public Health added Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming to the travel advisory last Tuesday.

"People who are unvaccinated by far have the highest risk of contracting COVID," said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady, M.D. "And the number one way for us to stop the spread of COVID is to get vaccinated and to encourage everyone we know to get their vaccinations. Vaccines are safe and effective."

Unvaccinated visitors from states and territories on the city's travel advisory are urged to either obtain a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 72 hours before arriving in Chicago, or quarantine for a 10-day period upon arrival.

Anyone who has been fully vaccinated is exempt from the travel advisory.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Department of Health Director Dr. Allison Arwady said Sunday that it is important now for everyone to wear a mask – vaccinated or not – amid rising COVID-19 rates driven by the especially contagious Delta variant, but also emphasized that it is unvaccinated people, not vaccinated people, who are most at risk.

While the travel advisory does not include any restrictions on visitors, the city said all travelers must still follow masking rules while traveling. Masks are required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations.

In Chicago, Arwady said as far as Lollapalooza is concerned, the health department expects to see some COVID cases because more than 100,000 attended. But Arwady said she is confident with the checking measures put in place by the event staff that the majority of people let in were, in fact, vaccinated.

"They were doing the checking at the gate and they were also actually keeping track of what percentage of folks that were coming through were vaccinated, what percentage were tested, you had to have a negative test within 72 hours, and then what percent were being turned away," Arwady said.

She added "if for example they didn't come with documentation or their documentation showed that their vaccine was less than 14 days ago, or their test was not at least 72 hours ago, they were being turned away."

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