Michigan Now Included in Chicago’s Tightened Travel Restrictions
If you're considering a trip to Chicago, you should know that new travel restrictions will be imposed beginning this week in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Chicago is introducing a newly revamped travel order which restricts Michigan residents' entrance to the Windy City.
City officials announced the new restrictions today (11/10), but say there are exceptions for Chicago residents who have been visiting Michigan to re-enter without quarantining for 14 days.
Up until this week, residents of any state with an infection rate higher than 15 positive cases per 100,000 residents were restricted from entering the city. As of Friday, a new three-tier system will be deployed.
Chicago currently stands at 60 daily cases per 100,000 residents. States with a higher level of positive COVID cases will be classified as red; those with fewer than 15 cases per 100,000 residents will be classified as yellow. (See the map accompanying this story in the Chicago Tribune.)
Michigan, with a daily infection rate of approximately 45 per 100,000 residents falls in the middle of that range, earning an "orange" designation.
Although the new restrictions are vague, residents of states with such a designation have to either quarantine for 14 days upon entering the Windy City or have a negative test no more than 72 hours upon arriving in the city.
“First and foremost, I would like people to avoid travel at this time if at all possible," public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady told the Tribune. "But by creating a tiered system and using Chicago’s case rate as a category threshold, it allows us to be responsive to the changing dynamics of the pandemic.”