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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Monday that young adults in four specific neighborhoods were behind the “disturbing” increase in coronavirus cases in the city.
At a press conference announcing a new vaccination site for the city’s union members, Lightfoot noted that while Chicago is making progress in its vaccine distribution, “we are not far out of the woods yet.”
“Right now we are seeing a disturbing increase in our case positivity and daily case rates,” Lightfoot said. “My friends, I just want to tell you, about three weeks ago we were still on a downtrend and we were seeing daily case rates in the two hundred range.
“Today, we are on average more than 400 new cases per day and our percentage of positivity, which was the lowest ever reached in the pandemic since the two, has now returned to 4% positivity,” he said. she adds.
“This is obviously a very disturbing trend that is being led by adults between the ages of 18 and 39, who live primarily on the north and northwest sides of our city, in our neighborhoods of Lincoln Park, Old Town, Dunning and Portage Park. “said Lightfoot.
Lightfoot also said the city had experienced “a number of outbreaks involving young people, among sports teams and as a result of pub crawls.”
“Let me be clear, it is not playing sports or being in bars that are causing these epidemics,” she said. “It’s the risky behavior in these contexts that creates the problem: no masks, no social distancing.”
“So to all of you listening right now and in particular to our young people: please continue to be vigilant and keep your guard up,” Lightfoot said. “The actions you take now will impact what we can all do in the future. We don’t want to be forced to back down, or worse, shut down these things because we haven’t done what’s necessary now to stay diligent. COVID-19 is still here, it is still killing people in our city every day. We must therefore remain diligent. “
Lightfoot implored residents to continue to distance themselves socially, avoid large groups, wash their hands frequently and continue to wear masks.
Monday was not the first time that Chicago officials have accused young adults of the increase in COVID-19 parameters. Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr Allison Arwady said last week that this age group has seen the biggest increase in recent days, a worrying trend reminiscent of the surge last fall.
“So what drives the most is the increase in the number of cases among our young adults, and I want to stress that,” Arwady said at a press conference last Tuesday. “Sadly, these types of increases are exactly what we were seeing in October as we started to see the beginnings of what has become our huge push. It’s really the same case rates and young adults who started this. ”
Arwady said it was possible that this increase in young people was linked to vaccine eligibility, with older people among the first eligible for their vaccine doses and young adults waiting their turn.
“It is a sign that the vaccination efforts are working, but it is also a reminder for me, and I hope for everyone, that there are people in the younger age groups than I think. who are perhaps less careful, ”Arwady said. “And whether that’s because they feel confident that the elderly they are interacting with are already, hopefully, fully vaccinated, or if there’s just a feeling that COVID is over … so it doesn’t not surprise me to see that the cases go. in ages that are less eligible for the vaccine, but the trends we are seeing, to be very clear, are the same as we were seeing in October as we watched them with some trepidation. ”
Chicago coronavirus measurements have shown “worrying increases” in recent weeks, officials said Thursday, noting that “most alarmingly,” the city’s daily number of new COVID cases has risen from the “to high” category. risk “due to several consecutive days of increase. .
As of Monday, Chicago’s positivity rate had climbed to 4.2%, with a seven-day moving average of 473 new cases of COVID diagnosed per day – even though testing has declined.
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