Chicago quarantine COVID-19 travel order updated with new color-coded system

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago COVID-19 travel quarantine order has been revamped to a new color-coded system, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced Tuesday.

As part of the new system, states will be placed in three categories: red, orange and yellow.

The Chicago COVID-19 travel quarantine order has been revamped to a new color-coded system, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced Tuesday.

States in the yellow category have a rolling seven-day average of under 15 cases per-day per-100,000 residents. No quarantine or pre-arrival test is required.

That will allow us to account for any data volatility," said CDPH Commissioner Allison Arwady. M.D. "We will continue to adjust those red states, based on what our threshold is here. Remember, the goal of this travel order is to protect Chicago."

Chicago COVID-19 cases are surging in a way the city has not ever seen before, in an outbreak that is worse than the first coronavirus peak in April and May.

States in the orange category have a rolling seven-day average of between 15 cases per-day per-100,000 residents and the Chicago rolling seven-day average, currently 60 cases per-day per-100,000. A 14-day quarantine or a pre-arrival test of no more than 72 hours before arrival is required.

States in the red category have a rolling seven-day average of cases per-day per-100,000 residents above Chicago's rate. A 14-day quarantine is mandatory.

The new order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.

"Now is not the time to be traveling. Now is not the time to be gathering. It is not the time to have people into your home, who do not already live there," said Arwady.

The six yellow states (no requirements): New York, California, New Hampshire, Maine, Hawaii, Vermont

-31 orange states and Puerto Rico (must quarantine or receive a pre-arrival negative test result): Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

-12 red states (must quarantine): North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Utah, Idaho, Kansas, Indiana.

Previously, states with more than 15 new COVID cases per day, per 100,000 population automatically went on the quarantine list, requiring visitors and Chicagoans returning from these states to quarantine for 14 days.

Now people coming from yellow states Won't have to quarantine as they're averaging less than 15 cases/day/100k residents.