SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Public Health has issued new guidance urging residents of the state to stay home and only leave for “essential activities.”
The guidelines, which come just two weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, recommend that for the next three weeks, Illinois residents leave home only to go to work, to get tested for COVID-19, to pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy, and to buy groceries.
The guidance also urges employers to have employees work from home as much as possible.
“We ask employers to make accommodations for this,” a release from the IDPH said. “Our goal is to reduce transmission as we head into the holidays so businesses and schools can remain open.”
In addition, state health officials suggest limiting travel and gatherings.
“In our current situation, with a rising prevalence of the virus, attending even small gatherings that mix households, or traveling to areas that are experiencing high rates of positivity, is not advised and it potentially dangerous,” the IDPH said, “Please travel only if necessary.”
Illinois reported over 12,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, setting a new record for the highest single-day report of cases for the second day in a row, as the day also marked the deadliest day of the pandemic since May.
The new recommendations follow warnings from Gov. J-B Pritzker that the Illinois Department of Public Health was looking at the possibility of adding more restrictions on a region level or possibly even statewide.
All of Illinois’ regions are under increased mitigations from the state, which have shut down indoor dining and bar service and has limited the number of people at gatherings.
