Since the first week of April, weekly Covid-19 infections have risen by 78 percent in the neighborhoods surrounding DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, with last week tallying the most infections during the period.

Zip codes housing the Chicago neighborhoods of Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Wrigleyville and Uptown have all reported a steady rise in weekly infections over the past month, according to the Chicago Data Portal.

Last week, weekly infections in these neighborhoods totaled 1,351, up from 756 in the first week of April. DePaul students returned to classes from spring break the week prior.

At DePaul, weekly infection rates have risen even more during this period. The number of reported weekly infections has increased by 148 percent from the 25 reported cases in the first week of April to 62 last week, according to data from DePaul’s Covid-19 dashboard. On April 11, DePaul lifted its indoor mask mandate at Lincoln Park and Loop campuses.

On April 19, Gov. JB Pritzker lifted Illinois’ mask mandate for public transportation, removing the requirement for CTA riders to wear masks on public transit.

Since then, Cook County has shown a rapid increase in infections and transmission. On April 19, daily new cases per 100k residents were 21.3. That number has since risen to 48.0 on May 10.

On Friday, the Chicago Department of Public Health moved the city from a “low” to “medium” risk of Covid-19 transmission in response to the recent rise.