Chicago again restricts travel to and from Wisconsin, orders 14-day quarantine to limit exposure

© AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wears a mask as she attends a news conference in Hall A of the COVID-19 alternate site at McCormick Place in Chicago, Friday. The “alternative care facility” is designed to relieve pressure on city hospitals from rapidly mounting COVID-19 cases.

Chicago officials once again will require anyone traveling between the city and Wisconsin to quarantine for 14 days.

The city added Wisconsin to its list of states with travel restrictions Tuesday. The order will go into effect Friday at 12:01 a.m.

Wisconsin was on Chicago’s quarantine order list from July 31 to Aug. 18, when officials removed it due to a drop in new daily coronavirus cases in the state.

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Now Wisconsin is seeing a surge in new cases — the state Department of Health Services on Tuesday reported 1,672 new cases as well as 10,865 negative tests, for a positivity rate of 13.3%.

It is the fourth-highest daily new case total ever after the state broke records three times last week. The rate of positive tests, over a seven-day average, was 16.7%. 

As of Tuesday, Chicago required people traveling between the city and 18 states and Puerto Rico to quarantine. The list of states is evaluated each week.

The order applies to people traveling from Wisconsin to Chicago for nonwork purposes as well as to Chicago residents returning from a trip to Wisconsin.

Exceptions include: those traveling for medical care or parents with shared child custody. Chicago residents who travel to Wisconsin do not have to quarantine if they are an essential worker.

People traveling from another state who pass through Wisconsin on their way to Chicago do not have to quarantine if they spend less than 24 hours in the state.

Those who commute from Wisconsin to Chicago for work or school should limit activities in the city, avoid public spaces and monitor for symptoms, officials said.

For more details, click on the “Travel” tab here.

Much of the Midwest was under the Chicago travel restrictions as of Tuesday, including Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota and Nebraska. Michigan was reporting fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people and was not included.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chicago again restricts travel to and from Wisconsin, orders 14-day quarantine to limit exposure