Next week could be could the first time in 2022 that the entire U.S. is not included on the advisory, according to Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
Despite falling case rates nationwide, no state or territory met the advisory's requirements, city health officials said. In order to be removed from the list, a state or territory's daily COVID-19 case rate must remain under 15 per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks. Maryland is the only state or territory with a case rate under 15 in the past week. The state will need another week of similar numbers to be removed from the city's travel advisory.Since the last two weeks, Illinois' daily case rate has dropped by 76 percent from 139.6 to 33.8, city health officials said.
Chicago's daily case rate is currently at 15.9, after recording 21.2 last week, health officials said. "It’s great to see these daily case rates go down throughout the country, as I know we’re all anxious to put COVID-19 behind us," Arwady said in a statement. "But the fact remains that every state and territory is still on our Travel Advisory because their COVID case rates are still high. There is still at risk of getting COVID-19 while traveling, and unvaccinated travelers face the highest risk.