A “second surge” in coronavirus cases in Chicago has Mayor Lori Lightfoot warning she will not hesitate to impose the tougher restrictions that were in place earlier this year.
With over 500 cases being reported daily — the highest since the tail end of the first wave of cases earlier this year — the mayor on Monday declared: “Make no mistake: We are in the second surge.”
That means the potential for reimposing Phase 3 restrictions. Among other things, that would end indoor dining at restaurants and reduce the size of social gatherings to 10 people or less.
“The more people gather, the more opportunity for COVID-19 to spread,” Lightfoot said at a City Hall news conference, where she was joined by Dr. Allison Arwady, the city’s health commissioner. “That’s why we have to keep groups as small as possible.”
The case surge, according to Arwady and the mayor, is happening across the board, across all ethnic, racial and demographic groups and in all areas of the city.
The increased restrictions also could mean shutting down movie theaters as well as the Lakefront and 606 trails.
“This is a warning sign,” Lightfoot said. “This is a call to action. ... We don’t want to see us have to go back to the kind of restrictive measures we say in March, April and May. But, if we have to, we will,.”
Calling the numbers “extremely troubling,” the mayor said “we must do something about this, you and I individually.” She knows restrictions take a toll, she added, “but we have to push aside the COVID fatigue.” Winter, she said, is the “worst possible time to let our guard down.”
Arwady said the average daily increase in cases is now 508.
“We are sounding the alarm because the increase is real,” Arwady said, and the rate of increase is the same as in March and April, during the statewide shutdown order.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
