Thread by @BauerJournalism

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the city's health department, have a news conference at 10:30 a.m. where they'll talk about reopening the city.

I'll live tweet. Follow for updates and let me know if you have questions.

blockclubchicago.org/2021/04/28/9-m…

BREAKING: Festivals are back, the United Center can reopen and conventions can be held as Chicago loosens its coronavirus restrictions: buff.ly/3eyP8Fu.

You can watch here: twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

They're talking about how Navy Pier partially reopens today: blockclubchicago.org/2021/04/20/nav…

Lightfoot: "It's a gross understatement to say that this past year has tested us all in unimaginable ways." We persisted because we had to.

Lightfoot: "Now I'm thrilled to announce we are able ot broadly loosen capacity restrictions" at various industries starting today.

We can reopen lakefront beaches, bring back the Windy City Smokeout, reopen the United Center to fans, etc.

Lightfoot: This will renew hope in our city among residents, businesses and tourists.

It will "amplify the message that Chicago is safely open for business and play, and to make sure that our long-term planners — our hotels, our tourism folks and our restaurants — are able to...

"see the future and plan ahead, particularly for thos eevents that have a long lead time."

And support cross-promotion of Chicago's events and programs.

Lightfoot: The stabilization/fall of metrics and vaccinations have allowed us to do this.

Lightfoot: We can expand capacity more in two weeks if our metrics continue to improve.

Lightfoot: Fully vaccinated guests won't count toward capacity at weddings and other private events.

Blackhawks, Bulls fans can return to United Center games — with a capacity limit. blockclubchicago.org/2021/04/29/bla…

Lightfoot: Our fight against COVID isn't over; we must remain vigilant and get vaccinated.

More than 50% of adult Chicagoans have gotten at least their first dose. But that needs to increase.

Lightfoot: "We must keep doing this work. ... Still continue to stay safe, make sure you wear your mask, get the vaccine and social distance."

Arwady: We've had more than 14 days now of declining case numbers and positivity, and ICU/hospitalizations have stabilized. Seeing them go down and stabilize is the "ticket to reopening."

"This is happening, make no mistake, because people are getting vaccinated."

Arwady: We're still getting more cases than we want to see.

But as long as it continues to decline and other metrics are stable, we'll "turn that dial again and make more steps toward reopening."

Arwady: "Things are heading the right way, but we are not done; and our ability to continue to move ahead is most dependent on people continuing to get vaccinated."

"Talk to everybody you know and say, 'Have you gotten that vaccine yet? And if not, let me help you.'"

Arwady: Call 312-746-4835 to get help getting vaccinated. It's free.

Arwady: If you get vaccinated, the travel order doesn't apply to you.

If you want to have a bigger wedding, make sure your guests get vaccinated.

If you want to see more fans at sporting events, get vaccinated.

Business Commissioner Rosa Escareno: "Oh my God, how exciting is it? It feels like we're outside right now. With all of you here, it's such a great show of how we're progressing.
"A long 13 months ago," she stood with Lightfoot & Pritzker as they announced closure of ...

"restaurants, bars and other businesses across the state. Since then, she'd been with Lightfoot & Arwady to announce changes.
"Taking a nimble and cautious approach has been a consistent strategy, and it was necessary to save lives. ... This is a slow dial, not a light switch"

Escareno: "Thanks to all these great initiatives and the life-saving COVID vaccine, I stand here today knowing there is an end in sight."

Escareno: Restaurants and bars can increase to the lesser of 50% or 100 people per location.

Large indoor venues can increase to 25% capacity without a maximum cap.

Meeting/conferences/conventions can extend to the lesser of 25% or 250 people.

...

Festivals, flea markets & farmers markets can return under statewide capacity restrictions.

Escareno: We are not out of the pandemic.

Escareno: Masks still required unless in limited times, like when guests are seated and eating/drinking.

Esareno: "All of the regulations that really are specific regulations for all the businesses still remain. That is really important as part of our reopening that we not lose focus of the responsibilities of businesses to ensure that they have other licensing requirements ... ."

Buckingham Fountain will be turned on during the annual Switch on Summer event.

This year, a contest will be held to determine who gets to flip the switch and turn on the fountain.

blockclubchicago.org/2021/04/29/fes…

CDOT Commissioner Gia Biagi: Chicago Loop Alliance put together Sundays on State.

Starting July 11, three blocks of State (Madison to Lake) will be closed to cars and "really transformed" into an open street. People will have room and reason to come to the Loop.

Windy City Smokeout will use HealthPass by CLEAR, which asks attendees to verify if they're vaccinated and checks if they're showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Lightfoot: "All right, Chicago, let's reopen."

Band plays.

Now, questions from reporters.

Lightfoot: "Life is always good with a jazz band, a brass band in it."

Lightfoot on when we could go to 100% capacity: "I think, given what we see right now in the metrics and the data ..., we feel like we're moving in that trajectory, but I will also say that my approach, our approach, has been to be cautious and data-driven. And what we've seen...

"too many times across the country and other places is this enthusiasm to reopen. We saw that a lot last summer, and people went to very high capacity levels only to have to shut everything back down very quickly. Now, we're in a different place than we were even last summer ...

"because we have the vaccine." But from talking to biz leaders, "is what they want is some predictability. What they don't want is to have this expectation that they're gonna get to a certain level only to see that have to be to re-trench because ...

"the numbers, the cases, the hospitalizations surge."

We're on that path but will take reopening in "smaller bite sizes."

Arwady: "We need folks to get vaccinated to be able to safely be there. You don't need to look any further than India to know we are not done with COVID as a world."

Arwady: Chicago wants to be as aligned with the state as possible to cut down on confusion.

"I'm feeling good that by this summer" we could see broad reopening.

Arwady: 25% capacity at outdoor sports venues is the highest it can be right now under state guidelines, but she's confident that could expand as metrics keep going down/stabilizing.

Lightfoot: Bears have a lease with Soldier Field until 2033. NFL doesn't let teams break their leases. Chicago has a good working relationship with the Bears. They have things they want to see different at Soldier Field, and city will try to accommodate. ...

Soldier Field is a great site, but it's challenging. "We're gonna keep those conversations going."

Lightfoot: "What I'm comfortable saying right now is obviously we're in conversations with the people who have big, iconic events over the course of the summer. Those events take a lot of lead time. You can't just flip the switch and turn on something as big as Lolla ... .

"We've been in conversation with them for months. They're obviously closely monitoring where we are. As I've tried to say many, many times, I believe that the summer of 2021 will look more like '19 than '20. With our announcement today, I think we're signaling we feel very ...

"optimistic about what the summer is going to look like, including some big events." That's as far as she'll go today.

Lightfoot: City hasn't had convos with Sox/Cubs about a vaccine-only section.

Lightfoot: "The reality is there's all kinds of vaccinations, and they have been in the U.S. for 50-60 years. We've faced these challenges before. Some people" for religious or health reasons can't get the vaccine. "I think these vaccines are different than other kinds of ...

"vaccine. That's why we're really encouraging widespread uptake, but we recognize we're never gonna get to 100%. We're far from worrying about 100%. We've only got 50% of Chicago adults vaccinated. We can and must do better than that to get to a point where people feel ...

"comfortable gathering."

Vaccines are now readily available. "You don't have to do the Hunger Games search for appointments."

Arwady: It's not that people can't travel. But if you're going to travel & made the decision to not be vaccinated, there will be requirements related to quarantine/testing.

Increasingly, where we think about things folks are going to want to do, where people do get ...

vaccinated, it becomes easier because the risk is lower.

"I have almost no concern for gatherings of people if everybody is fully vaccinated. But if we're talking about large numbers of people gathering who are not vaccinated," the risk is still there and still high.

Arwady: The broad guidance is if someone is fully vaccinated, they don't need to quarantine after exposure because the risk is low.

Arwady: Our goal is not to stop people from being able to do things entirely; it's to make sure we're doing everything we can to have things safe in settings where people are choosing not to be vaccinated.

Arwady: The easiest way to get past this for everyone is by getting vaccinated.

Lightfoot: "There is no passport."

Arwady: "There was a lot of excitement about a comment that I made yesterday related to this VaxPass idea that we are planning to use in the city of Chicago. But people took this to mean, I am going to need to show I have been vaccinated to ...

"get into any restaurant in Chicago. ...' We are not talking about vaccine passport here." It's to give people incentive to get vaccinated.

Lightfoot: "DuSable has not been properly recognized, in my view, as the founder of the city. We don't exist if he doesn't come, set up a trading post with his wife, Kitihawa ... . What we've done to date, historically, is woefully inadequate. ...

"So the proposal is this: DuSable Park ... was actually something that Harold Washington gave to the Park District in 1987. That project has languished for all these years, in part because there was a lot of environmental remediation that needed to be done. ... We're now in a ...

"position where we can actually turn this park into reality, and we've got the resources to make that happen." They'll connect that with turning the Riverwalk into the DuSable Riverwalk. There will be three iconic statues that will tell part of the story of DuSable and Kitihawa.

Lightfoot: "I'm very excited about the proposal that we pushed the team to come up with. We've just unveiled this, this week to members of the City Council, and I'm hoping that one way or the other we're gonna go forward with this plan."

Lightfoot: I respect the independence of COPA. They need to do a better job of communicating with Supt. Brown; the press shouldn't know about something before Brown. That's a communications issue "that COPA absolutely has to solve."

Lightfoot on foot pursuit policy: "I understand that people may be impatient, but it's important for us to craft a policy that reflects input both from community members but also from line officers who are going to have to live with whatever that policy is. The department is ...

"in the process of engaging with both groups, and I think we've got to let that process play out. ... My hope is that in the next few weeks we'll see a draft policy and then put that out for public comment. Foot pursuits are a very dangerous exercise." Happens 7-10 times daily...

across the city. "It's way past tie we get this right ... ." She's given thought to suspending foot pursuits, but she does not think it's an "appropriate response to a challenging process. ...

"It's always easy to say, 'Let's just stop,'" but she doesn't want to "signal" to "communities ... under siege by violence" that you can avoid accountability by running from police. "I think that woulds end a terrible message."

"Thank you all. Happy reopening."

Press conference done.