Friday, August 13, 2021

City Health Official: No Signs Lollapalooza was a "Super Spreader" Events

Ok, this is my last Lolla post.  Seems like the city is saying there aren't any signs that the massive festival was a "super spreader" event (via Tribune):


Chicago’s top health official announced Thursday that roughly 200 Lollapalooza attendees have tested positive for COVID-19 so far in the aftermath of the four-day music festival, but she said there’s no indication the controversial event was a “superspreader.”

“There’s no evidence at this point of a superspreader event, and there’s no evidence of substantial impact to Chicago’s COVID epidemiology,” said Chicago’s public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

So far, there have been no coronavirus deaths or hospitalizations linked to Lollapalooza, which drew a crowd of about 385,000 to Grant Park, she said.

The outbreak of 203 cases included 127 attendees who had been vaccinated and 76 attendees who had not been immunized; 58 of the positive cases were Chicago residents, 138 lived elsewhere in Illinois and seven had traveled from out of state, Arwady said.

So that's good news - although a cynic could point to the (likely) numerous young people who simply brushed off testing or "mild" symptoms.  

But...we're not going to be cynical anymore.  It seems like the Mayor Lightfoot and the city has avoided the massive black eye many anticipated.  So we will give them their due and say we're glad Lolla happened and that some sense of normalcy occurred this summer.

We will keep our eyes open for additional stories on this topic, but hopefully we're done with it!   

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