Chicago officials announced a stay-at-home advisory for the city that will go into effect on Monday, strongly recommending that residents cancel their Thanksgiving plans.
The advisory recommended that Chicago residents “not have guests in their homes unless they are essential workers,” cancel Thanksgiving celebrations with family, and avoid traveling. Nonessential businesses must close at 11 p.m.
“Beginning on Monday, November 16, 2020, the Mayor of the City of Chicago, Lori E. Lightfoot, as well as the Commissioner of Health for the City of Chicago, Dr. Allison Arwady, advise all residents of Chicago to stay at home in response to the rapid rise of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the city,” the city’s website stated. “Residents are advised to only leave home to go to work or school, or for essential needs such as seeking medical care, going to the grocery store or pharmacy, picking up food, or receiving deliveries.”
Lightfoot called it “a critical point in the second surge of COVID-19” in a statement.
“The gains we have made this past year have been the result of our willingness to work together,” she said. “Even in this difficult moment, we will continue to unite as we always have for our city in order to halt the rise we’re seeing, shake out of the fatigue we’ve been experiencing, and make the crucial difference in what our future is going to look like.”
Illinois’s coronavirus caseload has skyrocketed more than 120%, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. Illinois has reported more than 10,000 cases a day for four consecutive days.
Chicago’s seven-day caseload average is nearly 2,000 cases per day, and its positivity rate is 14%, up 4 points from the week beginning on Nov. 1.
Coronavirus cases have been on the rise across the country since late September, after spiking in the Sunbelt and then in the Upper Midwest. At more than 140,000 cases reported on Wednesday, the United States is reporting double the number of cases it reported during its July peak, when it reported 73,000 cases in a single day, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The national positivity rate is more than 8%.
The mayor took heat on Twitter following the announcement, with some saying that the order to cancel Thanksgiving plans was hypocritical, considering that Lightfoot attended a “mass gathering to celebrate Biden’s election win” just days earlier.
At the time, she told those who gathered to “celebrate this moment” and “savor every minute of it.” The vast majority of people in the video were wearing masks, but they were not practicing social distancing and were packed tightly around Lightfoot.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot just announced a stay-at-home order, canceling Thanksgiving for residents.
Days earlier, Lightfoot joining a mass gathering to celebrate Biden’s election win — telling the crowd to “have fun” and “celebrate.” https://t.co/kTpsjxLcxh
— Adam Shaw (@AdamShawNY) November 12, 2020
