City Recommends Universal Masking Indoors
Please be advised that, following updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and based on Chicago’s current local COVID-19 data, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) now recommends that everyone over the age of 2, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public indoor settings. Masking remains optional in outdoor settings, where the risk of COVID-19 transmission is lower, though masks are recommended for unvaccinated individuals in crowded outdoor settings.
On July 27, the CDC issued updated guidance that everyone (including fully vaccinated individuals) in areas with “substantial and high transmission” wear a mask in public indoor settings to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. The CDC defined four levels of community transmission: low, moderate, substantial, and high. Based on Chicago’s population, more than 200 new COVID-19 case diagnoses per day moves the city into CDC’s “substantial” category of local transmission, while more than 400 new cases per day moves the city into CDC’s “high” transmission category. These are the same cutoffs Chicago has used to determine COVID-19 community risk for more than a year.
On Friday, July 30th, Chicago surpassed 200 new COVID-19 cases per day and has therefore moved into the CDC’s “substantial” category of local transmission. Chicago data is updated every weekday at chi.gov/coviddash.
In alignment with the CDC’s guidance, the City is now recommending that businesses require masks for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, in all public indoor settings. This advisory does not apply to outdoor settings – masks remain optional outdoors, where COVID-19 transmission is much less likely. As a reminder, outdoor settings include sidewalk cafes, outdoor patios, rooms with retractable roofs, outdoor tents with at least 50% of the sides open, and indoor spaces that are within eight feet of walls that are at least 50% open. While universal masking is now encouraged in indoor settings, the recommendation allows masks to be removed in certain cases, such as when patrons are actively eating or drinking. No changes are being made to the recommendations for social distancing.
The vaccines authorized in the U.S. are working as expected and have been essential in the fight against COVID-19. They are overwhelmingly preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Since January 2021, 97% of Chicago’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have been in people who were not fully vaccinated. The CDC estimates that nationally, unvaccinated people are three to four times as likely to be infected with COVID-19 and 25 times more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people. The great majority of COVID-19 cases in Chicago are in unvaccinated individuals.
The best protection against COVID-19 and the Delta variant continues to be vaccination, including getting both doses if you get a two-dose vaccine. CDPH strongly urges anyone age 12 and older who isn’t yet vaccinated to get vaccinated right away. Chicago residents should call 312-746-4835 or visit chi.gov/covidvax for help getting a vaccine.