Dig out the masks: Indoor face coverings now recommended in Cook County as COVID-19 cases keep rising

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle appears at an October news conference. The county is now among 84 in Illinois wear federal public health officials say people should wear masks in public places indoors due to rising COVID-19 cases. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

The CDC is now recommending masks to be worn indoors in 84 of the state’s 102 counties — including Cook, DuPage, McHenry and Will.

Masks should be worn by anyone inside a public place in Cook County regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, federal officials advised Thursday.

Nearly all of the Chicago area is now seeing a “substantial” level of coronavirus transmission as determined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The indoor masking recommendations laid out earlier this week already apply to most of Illinois as infections driven by the Delta variant soar to the highest levels seen in about three months.

Under the CDC guidelines, counties that have recorded between 50 and 99 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the previous week are considered at a substantial transmission level, while anything over 100 is considered high transmission.

Cook County is now at about 52 cases per 100,000 residents. DuPage is at about 59, McHenry is at about 58 and Will is at almost 73.

Kane and Lake are the only Chicago-area counties still considered at a moderate level of transmission, but they’re not far off from the indoor mask recommendation. Kane is reporting about 47 cases per 100,000 residents, and Lake is at 42.

The numbers get worse downstate, with almost the entire southern portion of Illinois at a high transmission level. Masks should now be worn indoors in 84 of the state’s 102 counties.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Counties marked orange or red are considered to be at a substantial or high risk level for COVID-19 transmission.

During an online Q&A a few hours before Cook County was added to the federal list, Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady suggested the city could implement an indoor mask mandate “very shortly.”

Throughout the pandemic, the Chicago Department of Public Health has implemented its own COVID-19 protocols separately from the Cook County Department of Public Health, but the CDC makes no distinction between the two municipal bodies.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

Chicago has reported an average of 190 cases per day over the past week, a 63% increase compared to last week. The city was reporting only a few dozen cases per day in late June.

That shakes out to about 48 cases cases per 100,000 residents over the last week, just shy of the CDC masking threshold. Once the city hits 200 cases per day, Chicago will formally be at the “substantial” level, according to Arwady.

“I do anticipate we will be moving very shortly into that substantial risk category,” she said. “This is related to the Delta variant and the fact that it is here and it is spreading. And unfortunately, although Chicago is doing better than the great majority of the state and the great majority of the country, we are seeing those increases.”

Arwady added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if by early next week we’re making some formal announcements about that [potential mask mandate].”

Illinois average statewide case positivity rate is at 4%, up from an all-time low of 0.6% in late June. About 72% of eligible residents have gotten at least one vaccine dose, but vaccination rates are barely half that in some counties, mostly downstate.

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