Note: The news conference can be watched live in the video player above beginning at around 1 p.m.
Chicago's top doctor is scheduled to give an update on the city's COVID-19 response Tuesday, expected to detail the latest metrics, unveil new vaccine incentives and announce an expansion of the in-home vaccination program.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. from City Hall, according to CDPH. The event can be watched live in the video player above.
She will be joined by the department's Medical Director Dr. Geraldine Luna to discuss "expansion of City’s in-home vaccination program and new incentives for vaccination, and to provide an update on the COVID-19 response and vaccine roll-out," CDPH said.
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The update comes at a time when the average daily number of new cases in Chicago is up to 165 per day as of Tuesday - a 76% increase over last week.
The city's average daily case rate was at 94 per day last week and 41 per day the week before that, meaning it's quadrupled in roughly three weeks - though it is still significantly lower than the more than 700 cases per day the city was seeing earlier this year and last, before vaccines were widely available.
Hospitalizations in Chicago are up 5% from last week, while deaths are down, and the positivity rate in testing is up to 2.6% as of Tuesday, up from 1.5% last week and 1% the week before.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned Monday that the city could reinstate a mask mandate and other mitigation measures if metrics continue to rise.
In a conversation with the New York Times, Lightfoot said, "We're not there yet" when it comes to making such a move but flagged a point at which the city would look at implementing any changes.
"...We are working very hard to make sure that our daily case rate is below 200," Lightfoot said. "If we start to see consistently going over that, we're not only going to look at a mask mandate, we're going to look at other tools we've been compelled to use."
At an unrelated event later Monday, Lightfoot expanded on that when asked about a mask mandate potentially returning.
"We are not in a danger area based upon the metrics that we follow," she said. "But I do think it's smart for people to wear masks. When you're in a group, you don't know who's vaccinated or not."
"We know that the risk to the unvaccinated is extremely high, not only for them getting sick, but also transmitting. So I think everybody's got to make their decisions about what makes the most sense for them," Lightfoot continued. "But if we see a surge anything like we've seen in the past couple cycles, then everything's on the table, but right now, I feel confident with the measures that are in place. But everything is subject to change."
Arwady's COVID-19 update on Tuesday also comes as the city prepares for Lollapalooza to return this weekend, drawing roughly 100,000 people to Chicago's largest music festival.
Dr. Emily Landon, the executive medical director for infection prevention and control at the University of Chicago Medical Center, warned Monday that "a lot of people" will contract COVID-19 at Lollapalooza as she called for the festival to implement stricter health and safety protocols.
“I think a lot of people are going to get COVID at Lollapalooza,” she said. “The real problem is not so much that a bunch of young people who come into Chicago getting COVID at this event. The real problem is them taking it back to places that have very low vaccination rates."
But Lightfoot dismissed the warning from Landon - who has previously appeared alongside the mayor at news conferences earlier in the pandemic - as one coming from "critics on the sidelines."
“God bless the critics standing on the sidelines, but I feel confident that the Lolla folks have a good, solid plan in place, and we’re obviously going to hold them accountable to make sure that the plan is enforced,” Lightfoot said.
