CHICAGO — Philadelphia this week became the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate because of a sharp increase in reported coronavirus cases, perhaps leaving some wondering whether Chicago will be next.
Philadelphia’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, said in a COVID-19 briefing Monday that Philadelphia was averaging 142 cases every day — a count 50% higher than what officials saw in the area 10 days ago. Add to that, a spike in COVID cases in the Northeast portion of the country, and it would be natural for Chicagoans to wonder whether a step back is imminent.
But maybe not so fast.
Dr. Rachel Rubin, senior medical officer and co-leader of the Cook County Department of Public Health said health care professionals are concerned but hopeful that COVID cases of the BA.2 subvariant — or “stealth omicron” — won’t rise to levels seen in recent days in Europe and Asia.
“We can’t quite say yet where it’s gonna go,” Rubin said. “There are reasons for us to be optimistic that it won’t be as high of a spike or a rise as we saw in January from the original omicron — because a lot of people did get the original omicron and they will have at least some immunity to this one for a period of time.”
The vaccination rate in northern Illinois is also considerable, she said in a Tribune interview Tuesday.
“Those put together make us somewhat hopeful, but it’s still watchful waiting,” Rubin said.
Watching trends, Rubin wants people to begin to think about wearing masks indoors again, but a mandate? We’re not there yet.
Dr. Amaal Tokars, acting director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, agreed. In a news conference call Tuesday about new COVID-19 data reporting guidelines implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she said mask mandates are something that her office is not talking about currently given the fact hospitalizations and deaths continue to remain low.
While case rates for COVID-19 are slowly rising in areas of the state, including four counties in the very southern portion of Illinois that are rated high by CDC’s new metrics, she said her office is considering those spikes carefully.
“We are going to do what we think is wisest and best based on the current circumstances that we see,” Tokars said, noting transmission in Illinois appears low overall. “We really want to encourage all who are not up to date or who have never got vaccinated to do that. Protect yourself and your family. That’s where we are just now. And we’ll see what happens in the future.”
In a statement, Chicago’s public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady thanked everyone for being vaccinated and boosted, actions that keep local risk levels low. The Chicago Department of Public Health reported Tuesday that hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 here are as low as they’ve been since the start of the pandemic.
Over the last week, an average of 414 Chicagoans each day had a positive lab test for COVID-19, up from an average of 284 cases the week prior.
But down from the prior week, Chicago is averaging 6.43 new COVID-19 hospitalizations and fewer than one COVID-19 death per day. At this time, in all of Chicago, there are only 10 COVID-19 patients utilizing ventilators — a low not seen since July 2021.
“We’re now following the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels, which do not rely on case numbers alone to determine our risk levels but also look at severe outcomes and COVID-19′s impact on our hospital systems,” Arwady said. “And by those metrics Chicago remains in low risk, thanks in large part to our vaccination rates here in the city.”
Dr. Emily Landon, chief health care epidemiologist at the University of Chicago, said COVID dashboards, local and national, are good for awareness, but people should not be basing their life decisions on their numbers.
“Just because there isn’t a mask mandate doesn’t mean you don’t need to wear a mask. And just because there’s an uptick in cases doesn’t mean we’re going to have another big surge,” Landon said.
Landon believes the 400 average will be more of a blip. She said if 400 is the ceiling, she doesn’t think a full mask mandate will be necessary.
But if that figure becomes the floor and continues to rise, then maybe a mask mandate will be required, she said.
“I think individuals should not depend upon a mandate to make decisions about what they should do,” Landon said. If the area where a person lives has a lot of cases, then they may want to where a mask inside.
“My recommendation is the three C’s ... good guidance in general for people to make their own decisions on masking. The three C’s are closed spaces, close contacts and crowds,” Landon said. “If you’re in a closed space with other people, that’s a higher risk, consider putting a mask on. If you’re going to be having close contact with people that aren’t your family or close friends, then maybe you should put a mask on.”
There’s no way to have zero COVID risk, she said, but people can reduce their risk by being aware of their circumstances in a given situation.
“If you’re vaccinated, it’s been a while since you’ve had a booster or you’re immunocompromised or you’re wanting to protect people,” Landon said, “those three C’s are the times when you really need to reach for that mask.”
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