Chicago Announces Coronavirus 'Stay At Home' Advisory For 30 Days

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a "stay-at-home" advisory — not an order — for 30 days in response to spiking coronavirus cases.

The city's so-called "Protect Chicago" initiative takes effect at 6 a.m. Monday. In addition to the stay-home advisory, city officials set a 10-person capacity limit on indoor and outdoor meetings and social gatherings, including weddings, funerals, birthday parties and business dinners.

The capacity limit, however, doesn't apply to retail stores, fitness centers, movie theaters and other industries already under specific capacity guidelines.

Lightfoot pleaded with residents to practice social distancing, wear face coverings "at all times" and only leave home for work, school, getting medical care, picking up groceries, takeout food and receiving deliveries.

Chicagoans also should not invite outside guests into their homes, even trusted family and friends, and avoid all nonessential out-of-state travel, according to the city's stay-home advisory.

"Normal Thanksgiving plans" must be canceled — particularly if plans included inviting guests who don't live with you, Lightfoot said.

The new public health order also requires indoor gatherings at private homes to be limited to six non-household members. The city's public health department has authority to fine people for hosting large social gatherings in their private residences, city officials said.

Public health department Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady on Thursday said the risk of not following the strict social distancing restrictions is that the city could be on pace to have 4,000 positive coronavirus cases a day by Thanksgiving. Some coronavirus modeling projections show that more than 1,800 Chicagoans could die by the end of the year, city officials said.

"In the last month, three times as many people with COVID-19 in Chicago hospitals as just one month ago — 873 people, right now, not in the ICU but in a Chicago hospital, compared to just 291 a month ago," Arwady said. "And, again, no sign of that slowing down."

City officials have assembled an outreach team that includes more than 1,000 city workers, about 550 contact tracers and hundreds of community organizations to provide information and support to people hit the hardest by the spread of COVID-19.

The spike in coronavirus cases has affected every ZIP code, and people of every race, ethnicity and age group. Chicago has posted an average coronavirus test positivity rate of 14 percent over the last seven days. During that period, there have been 1,920 cases — an increase of 510 cases from the previous week.

"None of us can keep maintaining the status quo in the face of this very stark reality," Lightfoot said. "Everyone — me, you, everyone — must step up, and we must do more."

This is a developing story. Check back for details.