CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot again urged holdouts in the city to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as numbers rise and her administration wants people to mask up indoors.
Lightfoot joined Dr. Allison Arwady, the city’s public health commissioner, during a Sunday morning press conference updating the city’s COVID-19 status. The update came as Lollapalooza ends its four-day run Sunday in Millennium Park.
While there’s a lot of attention on breakthrough cases, Arwady said 99.9% of Chicagoans who’ve been vaccinated have not gotten COVID-19.
“We can be open and be careful at the same time. Being careful means getting vaccinated,” Arwady said.
Lightfoot singled out neighborhoods that are behind in vaccination rates: South Deering, Englewood, South Shore, Auburn Gresham, Austin and Roseland.
“Those six zip codes remain below 50% vaccine uptake. That’s a challenge but also an opportunity. The challenge is you are playing with with your life,” Lightfoot said.
Arwady said the administration currently has no plans to shut the city down again.
Chicago is averaging 206 new COVID-19 cases every day and, crossing the 200 cases per day threshold, the city moves from the “lower transmission to the substantial transmission,” Arwady explained. Other metrics such as the COVID-19 positivity rate and hospitalizations remain in the lower transmission.
Sunday’s update came as Lollapalooza prepares to end its four-day run in Millennium Park later that day. The mayor received criticism for hosting the music festival during the pandemic.
Lightfoot, however, said she feels very good about the steps the city has taken with the organizers to host the music fest.
“We worked in conjunction with them weeks and months ahead. And to incentivize people to get vaccinated so they could be and enjoy Lolla safely. And We feel very comfortable about that partnership and the protocols that are in place,” Lightfoot said.
But she issued a stern warning after pictures of people crammed onto CTA trains without masks circulated widely.
“Do not get on public transportation in the city without a mask. Do not. And we are looking at conversations with the CTA to look at enforcement,” Lightfoot said.
A test of the protocols include, she said, having Arwady show up at the festival gates somewhat incognito.
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