Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Earns Criticisms for Attending Lollapalooza Amid Plans to Revive COVID-19 Restrictions

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been criticized for continuing to hold the Lollapalooza music festival despite the reestablishment of COVID restrictions.

The mayor even made an appearance at Lollapalooza, thanking attendees for wearing masks and completing their COVID vaccine doses, Fox News reported.

The Chicago mayor had defended her decision, saying that the event was outdoors. Lori Lightfoot also said that Chicago had been doing massive events across the city since June. She said that there had been no major problems or issues when they held events like that.

Lori Lightfoot also said that the music event team had hired their own public health experts, working hand in glove with the local authorities since they started these discussions. But many people have expressed concerns about the holding of the event due to the Delta variant.

Journalist Laurie Garrett asked on Twitter if the Chicago mayor would be blamed for giving it a go signal and dubbed Lollapalooza as a COVID super-spreader event.

Lori Lightfoot had told those planning to attend Lollapalooza to wear a mask when riding public transportation. But Chicago's public transit was reportedly filled with riders not wearing masks.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators reportedly went to Grant Park for the four-day music festival that started on Thursday.

Lollapalooza in Chicago

Chicago Tribune had earlier reported that the Lollapalooza had quietly loosened the safety standards for unvaccinated guests.

The Chicago mayor had previously said the music festival attendees should have a negative COVID test result within 24 hours of attending Lollapalooza each day. This requirement was for those who were not fully vaccinated.

Then eventually, the city has allowed Lollapalooza attendees to go forward with negative tests up to 72 hours before entering. According to a review of the festival's public communications, it was unclear when the testing window change happened. However, it seemed that it was between June 18 and July 8.

Some have cited what happened at a Dutch music festival as a warning for Chicago. More than 1,000 people had tested positive for COVID in early July after attending a music festival in the Netherlands.

A representative of that city's health board said that it was a mistake to allow unvaccinated attendees to get in with a negative test within 40 hours of entering.

Meanwhile, Lollapalooza had pulled out DaBaby on the final day headliners after the artist had made a homophobic statement.

Organizers said that Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect, and love, ABC 7 Chicago reported. Instead of DaBaby, Young Thug will perform in his place.

The massive music event was canceled in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic. The said cancellation has reportedly cost at least $35 million in sales and almost $9 million in lost earnings.

Chicago Amid the COVID Pandemic

Dr. Michael Lin, the infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center, said the virus "needs to be respected," and it was something that people should take precautions against.

Dr. Allison Arwady, the Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner, said they have no plans to close Chicago again. However, the department urged people to get vaccinated and wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status.

Associated Press reported that the state has lifted most of its pandemic-related restrictions in June during the drop of infection rates.

The health department noted that Chicago's average number of daily cases is 208, a 58 percent increase from last week when it was 131.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Lollapalooza 2021: Day 3 of Fest Includes New Mask Requirements - From ABC 7 Chicago