CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- One day after Mayor Lori Lightfoot launched a stay-at-home advisory for the city, asking residents to stay home as much as possible for the next 30 days, suburban Cook County followed suit.
Due to increased rates of COVID-19 transmission and to prevent having to implement more restrictive mitigation measures, Cook County Department of Public Health officials announced Friday that they are advising all suburban Cook County residents and visitors to follow new guidance to curb the increased spread of COVID-19 in Illinois Region 10.
The new guidance, in alignment with the State of Illinois and very similar to the city of Chicago, will take effect Monday, Nov. 16 at 6 a.m., and will last at least 30 days.
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The guidance asks residents stay home as much as possible and to refrain from any non-essential activities. If you must go out for essential activities, such as work, to attend school, get tested for COVID-19, get a flu shot, or to shop for groceries, Cook County officials ask that you wear a mask consistently and correctly over your nose and mouth, avoid close contact with others and maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from others who do not live with you, and wash your hands often with soap and water.
It also asks that residents limit gathers as much as possible and refrain from attending or hosting gatherings with people who do not live in your household. This includes recommendations to postpone holiday gatherings or host virtual celebrations to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Residents are also asked to limit travel as much as possible and to no engage in any non-essential travel, including vacations or trips to visit friends and relatives.
The CCDPH is also calling on employers in suburban Cook County to re-establish telework protocols for staff who are able to work from home.
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Both of the notices stop short of a mandatory stay-at-home order, because they are intended to be an attempt bend the COVID-19 curve for the second time.
“Now more than ever, we must come together to stay apart,” Dr. Rachel Rubin, Cook County’s public health department’s senior medical officer, said in the release. “We know limiting gatherings with friends and family can be hard, but we also know that virtual celebrations will save lives.”
Over 99,000 people in suburban Cook County have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and positivity rates are over 15 percent.