It's been almost two months since Mayor Lori Lightfoot's stay-at-home advisory went into effect on November 16, 2020. And on Sunday, Lightfoot announced plans to extend the recommendation through January 22 in a continued effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As we noted back in November, the advisory stops short of being a mandate, like the state's stricter stay-at-home order that was issued back in March 2020. At its core, the recommendation asks that residents stay at home unless they must go out for essential reasons, like work, school, medical visits or go get food. Additionally, Chicagoans are strongly advised to:
- Not have guests in their home unless it's an essential worker, like a healthcare provider or childcare worker
- Avoid any non-essential travel and follow new emergency travel order guidelines
The extension of the stay-at-home advisory comes as thousands of Chicago Public Schools students are expected to return for in-person classes today, a move that's opposed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
It should also be noted that Gov. J.B. Pritzker's statewide restrictions are still in place through the Tier 3 resurgence mitigations, which went into effect on November 20, 2020 and override the city's reopening plan. Tier 3 restrictions shuttered museums, theaters and casinos and limited the operating capacity of grocery and retail stores. Pritzker announced last week that the soonest these restrictions could be relaxed would be January 15.
For now, Chicagoans should stay put as much as possible and mask up when they must leave the house. Stay tuned for more updates from city and state officials in the coming weeks.
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