CHICAGO – The city placed an emergency travel order last year as COVID-19 cases increased, but Chicago failed to enforce it.
Janet Calvo was from Nashville, Chicago, and ready to play a ball at Bean. She runs the Instagram account “Wilson Gets Around”, an ode to Tom Hanks’ volleyball in “Castaway”.
Since she came to Chicago from Tennessee, Calvo checked that she wasn’t on thin ice.
“When we were planning the trip, we were informed by the airline that there was a travel restriction, so we took care of that,” said Calvo.
Calvo logged on to O’Hare’s website and found Chicago Emergency travel order.
“Anyone arriving from a state on the Orange list is instructed to receive a negative COVID-19 test result no later than 72 hours prior to arrival,” it said.
She made sure all records were in order and spent $ 175 on a quick COVID-19 test.
But when she got to O’Hare’s gate, she found that enforcement wasn’t exactly on the ball.
“Nobody has ever asked us to see it. They never checked with the airline, ”she said. “You basically had a plane load full of people from Nashville, Tennessee who came to your town today and no one asked for proof that they obeyed the emergency orders.”
Dr. Arwady said the mission is more about guidance and education for travelers. She said the city lacks the resources to screen every passenger who comes into one of the busiest airports in the world.
“We don’t stop people, we don’t make every single person who travels, we don’t have the ability to do any of that,” said Arwardy.
Mayor Lightfoot said the order will encourage people to think about public health before getting on a plane.
“I think the order of travel really raised public awareness of the safety of traveling to other locations,” said Lightfoot.
With volleyball in hand, Calvo hopes lax enforcement doesn’t lead to a COVID-19 spike.
“Someone in a conference room somewhere is putting it on paper, and it sounds really good, but in practice, if you don’t have anyone checked, you’re operating on an honor system in a global pandemic,” Calvo said.
Very few, if any, quotes were given about the travel assignment. In certain cases, the city sent warning letters to people who broke the rules.
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