Chicago Reinstates Indoor Mask Mandate Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases

Chicago announced on Tuesday that it is reinstating its indoor mask mandate for people regardless of their vaccination status, joining a growing number of cities and states responding similarly to rising COVID-19 cases.

At a press conference , Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said that the rule will apply to indoor public settings in the city for people ages 2 and up, beginning Friday. When the city surpassed 200 coronavirus cases per day, it merely recommended indoor masking, but it is making that a requirement now that cases have passed 400 per day.

Once we get through the delta surge, I anticipate that [cases] will come back down, Arwady said, adding that Chicago is currently averaging 419 COVID-19 diagnoses per day, moving up from the category of substantial risk to higher risk.

The commissioner stressed that other primary metrics such as test positivity rates and hospitalizations are still in the lower risk category. Chicagos test positivity is at 4.9%, and the city is averaging 18 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day.

With the Delta variant causing cases to go up, now is the time to re-institute a mask mandate to slow the spread and save lives. We track the data closely and hope this will only be temporary, and we can bend the COVID curve like weve done in the past. pic.twitter.com/ICkKzLZWHJ

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With the Delta variant causing cases to go up, now is the time to re-institute a mask mandate to slow the spread and save lives. We track the data closely and hope this will only be temporary, and we can bend the COVID curve like weve done in the past. pic.twitter.com/ICkKzLZWHJ
Dr. Allison Arwady (@DrArwady) August 17, 2021

The highest case rate has been among unvaccinated people who are 30-59 years old, followed by people ages 18-29. Both the highest hospitalization rate and the highest death rate have been among unvaccinated Chicagoans who are 60 years or older. Arwady said that the hospitalization rate is really striking where we look at our Chicago data and how much that risk is falling on people who are unvaccinated.

More than 60% of eligible Chicagoans have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. While there are breakthrough cases of vaccinated people getting infected, Arwady said that about 99.7% of vaccinated Chicagoans have avoided a COVID-19 diagnosis after receiving their shots. For the unlucky people who are vaccinated but still get the virus, 99.99% have not needed to be hospitalized.

So at this point, this is largely, especially the severe outcomes, a vaccine-preventable disease, Arwady said. And if youve been waiting to get your vaccine, especially if youre over 60, delta is here, now is the time. We want to keep people safe and out of the hospital, and vaccines, clearly based on our Chicago data, is the most important way to do that.

The indoor mask mandate will remain in place as long as Chicagos case count stays above 400 cases per day. When cases fall consistently below that number, the city will revert to a mask recommendation.