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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the city's top doctor are scheduled to give a coronavirus update Tuesday, just over two weeks after the city lifted its mask and vaccine mandates.
The address is scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. in City Hall, according to the mayor's public schedule.
While it remains unclear what Lightfoot and Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady will discuss, the update follows several developments in the city's battle with COVID.
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Chicago Public Schools switched to a mask-optional policy Monday and the deadline for city workers to be fully vaccinated arrived over the weekend.
The address also comes as some call for further loosening of requirements, asking that the city worker vaccine mandate offer a testing option for those still unvaccinated.
Lightfoot reiterated her stance on Monday, saying that Chicago police officers and other city workers that have not yet reported their vaccine status will face consequences.
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“We will enforce the rules, and my expectation is that the vast majority of police officers who are already vaccinated will come into compliance,” she said.
The city reports that 89% of its workforce is now vaccinated against COVID. According to the latest figures from the mayor’s office, 2,367 Chicago police employees and 312 Chicago fire employees have not yet reported their vaccination status, leaving them at risk of being placed on no-pay status.
Thus far, the city says that 30 Chicago police employees and 19 Chicago fire employees are on that no-pay status.
In response to the mayor’s comments, 11 members of the Chicago City Council have asked for an emergency meeting, aiming to encourage Lightfoot to consider allowing unvaccinated employees to submit to twice-weekly testing instead.
According to data published Monday. Chicago is currently averaging 132 new coronavirus per day, marking a continued decline since the omicron peak earlier this year. Hospitalizations and deaths also continue to decline, with daily averages dropping to 9.43 and 1.57, respectively.
The city's positivity rate sits at 0.7%, down from 0.8% one week earlier.
