Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi, And Louisiana Removed From Chicago Travel Advisory

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Maryland, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana are being removed from Chicago's COVID-19 travel advisory this week.

There are now 41 states and two territories on the list.

Every U.S. state and territory except California, Connecticut, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Puerto Rico is on the travel advisory list.

As many as eight additional states or territories - Alabama, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and the Virgin Islands - could be removed from the travel advisory next week, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.

States are removed from the city's travel advisory when they get their daily COVID case rate below 15 per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks.

City officials recommend people who aren't vaccinated get tested for COVID one to three days before heading to a state or territory on the travel advisory list, and again three to five days before returning to Chicago.

Public health officials also recommend unvaccinated people who visit a state or territory on the travel advisory list quarantine for at least seven days upon arriving in Chicago, even if they test negative. Unvaccinated people who don't get a COVID test should quarantine for at least 10 days.

Anyone who is traveling is required to wear a mask on public transportation – including planes, trains, and buses – regardless of their vaccination status. An indoor mask mandate also remains in place for public places in all of Illinois.

Even with COVID case rates dropping for much of the United States, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady urged people to continue taking precautions against the virus, particularly heading into colder months.

"COVID is not through," Arwady said in a statement, "and as we begin to spend more time indoors, we must keep our guard up. Vaccination, along with common sense masking and social distancing, still offers us our best defense against COVID."