Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Leroy_Skalstad / Pixabay)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday that visitors from Wisconsin to Chicago will be required to quarantine for two weeks in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Wisconsin will join Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah on Chicago’s quarantine order on Tuesday, with the restrictions taking effect Friday.

Last week, Lightfoot warned that Wisconsin was close to being added to the list of states that now have an infection rate greater than 15 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 resident population, per day, over a seven-day rolling average.

Gov. Tony Evers said that warning should serve as a wake-up call for Wisconsin residents.

“If Chicago thinks our people should stay home, then we better put some damn masks on and make sure that we continue to reverse the course that we’re in,” Evers said Thursday. “There’s lots of people that live in Illinois, live in Chicago that work regularly in Wisconsin and vice versa, and I anticipate that that will continue to move forward … They won’t be putting roadblocks up and checkpoints going into Chicago, and we won’t be doing it in Wisconsin.”

Travelers from those states must stay “at a single designated home or dwelling for 14 days before doing any activities outside of the home or dwelling,” according to the mayor’s office.

Violators could face fines of $100-$500 per day for a maximum fine of $7,000, according to the mayor’s office. However, city officials have said they are relying on an education campaign, rather than an enforcement effort. No one has been cited for violating the order, Lightfoot said Monday.

Travel to obtain medical care, exchange children subject to a shared custody order and for essential workers are exempt from the order, according to the mayor’s office.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]