Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot advised all residents to cancel their Thanksgiving plans and rather stay indoors unless they need to go to school, work, or in situations such as grocery shopping and doctor’s appointment. This announcement comes as the state witnessed an alarming surge in COVID-19 cases.

With COVID-19 cases rising across Illinois, Mayor Lori and Governor J.B. Pritzker warned the people that stay-at-home orders could be implemented soon but refrained from imposing these restrictions on residents for now. According to Chicago Tribune, they urged people to voluntarily stay home, call their plans for Thanksgiving off, and avoid holiday gatherings.

As part of a 30-day stay-at-home advisory, Chicago has urged people to avoid traveling, inviting guests in their homes, or even stepping outside their homes for nonessential business. This is to restrict the spread of the coronavirus as the city continues to witness a rise of the disease and hospitalizations.

He explained the stay-at-home advisory in a press conference, noting that the city is leaving no stone unturned in its attempt to slow the spread of the deadly pathogen. Lightfoot went on to say this is a warning that the city has reached an inflection point where it needs to do more than what it has been doing until now, as those measures have failed to stop the virus from spreading across the state.

On Wednesday, Illinois saw a record high in terms of average daily new cases that have gone above 60 percent as compared to a week ago, CNBC analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University suggests. Citing an Illinois Department of Public Health report, Lightfoot said the state reported over 12,700 new cases on Thursday, while Chicago is averaging about 1,900 new cases every day.

Taking to her Twitter account, Lightfoot revealed that the city could lose 1,000 more Chicagoans to COVID-19 by the end of 2020 if it does not take serious steps to stop the spread of the virus. On Nov. 13, she wrote on Twitter that the city had flattened the curve before, adding that it is time to do it again. She used the hashtag #protectchicago and shared a link to the city's official website.

During the conference, Lightfoot also reminded the people that COVID-19 isn't similar to the flu or the cold. She went on to say that the number of people going to work despite not feeling well has also increased.