Lightfoot defends Lolla against mounting criticism, urges Chicagoans to get vaccinated

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DOWNTOWN Mayor Lori Lightfoot again defended his decision to host Lollapalooza, the world’s biggest festival this year, at a press conference on Sunday.

The mayor is increasingly under surveillance for having authorized the holding of the festival. It typically attracts 100,000 people a day, fueling concerns that it could turn into a full-scale event as the Delta variant spreads across the United States.

Chicago’s case rate and positivity rate have increased, and Dr. Allison Arwady, chief of the health department, said last week she expected to see cases of COVID-19 associated with Lolla.

Photos of the massive and tight crowds at the festival, CTA and downtown have been shared widely online.

Lightfoot sought to allay people’s concerns at a press conference on Sunday, saying she remained confident in Lollas’ precautionary measures.

The mayor said street festivals have taken place and baseball games have been played at Sox Park and Wrigley Field without them turning into high profile events.

These events are, however, significantly smaller than Lollapalooza. For example, Sox Park reaches a capacity of around 40,600 people, while Megan thee Stallion said in an Instagram post that her Saturday set at Lollapalooza had 180,000 people.

I understand the fascination with Lolla, but the point is, in this town we were able to open but do it cautiously because of the vaccinations, Lightfoot said.

According to city data, only about 52% of all Chicagoans are fully immunized.

And many have shared photos of L trains crowded with people without masks during Lollapalooza, raising concerns that these passengers are increasing the risk of transmission as they are inside and putting CTA workers at risk.

Don’t get on public transport in this maskless city. Don’t do it, said Lightfoot. And we’re looking at conversations with CTA to review the app. I don’t want people to take public transport without wearing a mask. It is not wise.

The festival requires attendees to prove they are fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of participating. People who are not fully vaccinated should wear masks, although it is not clear how this is applied.

Notably, a Dutch music festival now linked to 1,000 coronavirus cases had even stricter requirements: proof of vaccination or a negative test within 40 hours of attending the festival.

Dr Emily Landon, who is regularly invited by city and state to speak at coronavirus press conferences, told NBC the festival should likely be canceled or have tighter safety restrictions.

Lightfoot pointed out that the vast majority of people attending Lollapalooza have shown proof that they are fully vaccinated, according to the festival, while the COVID-19 variant hits unvaccinated communities the hardest.

Lightfoot and Arwady said 97% of Chicagoans who have been hospitalized or died from COVID-19 since January were not fully immunized.

The unvaccinated are those at risk as Delta spreads, Lightfoot said. They don’t just put themselves in danger; they put their families in danger.

Immunization rates have lagged in black and Latino communities and in the south and west sides.

Lightfoot urged people in these communities to get vaccinated so they can be better protected against Delta.

The city now recommends that everyone wear masks when indoors in public, as Chicago experiences a significant amount of community transmission.

Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 remain low in Chicago.

But Arcady said she expects those numbers to rise as do the cases due to Delta.

The Washington Post has obtained internal documents from the CDC that say the Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox, which is highly contagious, and is even more contagious than colds, flu and Ebola.

New evidence also shows that the variant can even be easily spread by fully vaccinated people, according to CDC documents. This is different from previous variants, because people vaccinated who had it didn’t seem to spread the virus as easily.

CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky told the New York Times on Friday that new research shows that even fully vaccinated people have huge amounts of the virus in their nose and throat.

And internal CDC documents have also highlighted studies from Canada, Singapore and Scotland that suggest the Delta variant may increase a person’s risk of needing hospitalization or dying, according to the Washington Post.

Yet breakthrough cases remain rare, and vaccines used in the United States remain effective in preventing serious illness and death.

COVID-19 vaccinations are free and do not require insurance. Anyone can call the city’s coronavirus hotline at 312-746-4835 for more information on how and where to get vaccinated in their community.

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