Lollapalooza Lowers COVID-19 Testing Standard Despite Rising Cases | State and regional
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GREGORY PRATT Chicago Tribune
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she had no “hesitation” in allowing Lollapalooza to proceed, even as cases of COVID-19 increase and the safety standard for admitting unvaccinated guests has been lowered from what was originally announced.
In the weeks before the city welcomed hundreds of thousands of spectators to Grant Park for the four-day festival starting Thursday, the festival quietly relaxed the safety standard for unvaccinated guests. In May, Lightfoot first announced that the festival would require attendees who are not fully vaccinated to have a negative COVID-19 test result within 24 hours of participating in Lollapalooza each day.
It is not known when the test window change occurred, but it appears to have been between June 18 and July 8, according to a review of the festival’s public communications.
Now the city and Lollapalooza are allowing the festival to run with negative tests up to 72 hours before guest entry, according to the festival’s website.
For her part, Lightfoot said she had no concerns about Lollapalooza.
“It’s outside. We’ve been running large-scale events all over town since June without any major issues or issues, â€Lightfoot said. “The Lolla team have been phenomenal.”
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Lightfoot also said it was important for participants to test negative within a “reasonable time frame” and said it could be longer than 24 hours. Lightfoot said unvaccinated participants would need a negative test within 48 hours, but admitted she could be wrong about that.
The news of the lower admission standard comes at a time when Lightfoot is facing criticism from people who fear the Lollapalooza Festival will turn into a big-ticket event.
Some have pointed to what happened at a Dutch music festival as a warning to Chicago.
After more than 1,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a music festival in early July in Utrecht, the Netherlands, a representative from that city’s health board told a Dutch broadcaster that it It was a mistake to allow unvaccinated participants to enter with a negative test within 40 hours of entry.
A spokesperson for the Utrecht Health Board said the 40-hour period was too lax, leaving too much time for people to become infected between receiving the test result and attending the festival.
The Utrecht festival hosted a total of 20,000 participants over two days, compared to a full capacity at Lollapalooza of 400,000 over four days.
See the new Illinois laws that came into effect on July 1
665 tickets
The Democrat-controlled Illinois General Assembly approved 665 bills this legislative session, with the vast majority awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature.
But, Pritzker signed 42 bills. A handful of them will come into effect on January 1, 2022, but most have entered into force upon signature or will take effect on Thursday.
Here are some notable new laws in effect now or Thursday that Illinoisans should know about.
CAPITOLE NEWS ILLINOIS
Electoral reform
With the pandemic-related delays in the U.S. census redistribution numbers, lawmakers have pushed back the state’s 2022 primary elections from March 15 to June 28. The legislation also makes election day a public holiday, requires every county to have at least one universal voting center, and allows people to be added to a permanent mail-ballot list. (SB825)
Photo by Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune
Vote by mail
Some pandemic-induced changes to voting for the 2020 general election, such as postal voting and curbside filing, will now be permanent features of future elections. (House Bill 1871)
State legislative redistribution
As they’re tasked with doing every 10 years, lawmakers approved new district boundaries for the Illinois House and Senate. Maps drawn by Democrats, who used the U.S. community survey of the U.S. census instead of waiting for decennial census numbers to arrive later this year, have been challenged in court by Republicans and some other groups. (HB2777)
Photo by Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune
Illinois Supreme Court Redistribution
The Illinois Supreme Court’s seven-person district boundaries were successfully redrawn for the first time since the 1960s. (SB642)
Photo from Capitol News Illinois
Police reform
There has not been a more controversial bill that passed this year than House Bill 3653, also known as the SAFE-T Act, which passed during the Duck Session. lame in January. The provisions ending the cash bond and requiring all police officers to wear body cameras will not come into effect until 2023 and 2025, respectively. But from Thursday, the police will have to rescue the wounded, intervene when a fellow officer uses excessive force and limit their use of force. It also offers stricter guidelines for the decertification of officers and would allow people to file anonymous complaints of police misconduct. (HB3653)
Payday loans
Lenders are now prohibited from charging more than 36% annual percentage rate on consumer loans. The average rate in Illinois was nearly 300% before the law was signed. (SB1792)
Vaccine lottery
The state’s fiscal year 2022 budget includes $ 10 million for a “vaccine lottery.” All Illinois residents vaccinated before July 1 will automatically be entered into the contest. It includes $ 7 million in cash prizes for vaccinated adults, ranging from $ 100,000 to $ 1 million, and $ 3 million in scholarships for vaccinated youth. (SB2800)
Photo by Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune
COVID-19 emergency housing
Created guidelines for distributing over $ 1 billion in federal stimulus funding for COVID-related housing assistance. Also creates automatic sealing of evictions during the pandemic. (SB2877)
Pre-trial interest
Victims of personal injury and wrongful death will be entitled to collect interest from defendants from the time a lawsuit is filed. It aims to encourage the settlement of these cases. He was supported by trial lawyers and opposed by business groups. (SB72)
Casino work
All Illinois casino applicants are now required to enter into a project-work agreement when seeking a new or renewed license. (SB1360)
Compensation for victims of crime
Provides that a victim’s criminal history or crime status does not automatically preclude compensation for that victim or their family. Extends the applicant’s period for submitting requested information to 45 days instead of 30 days and provides that a final reward should not exceed $ 45,000, compared to $ 27,000, for a crime committed on or after August 7, 2022. (HB3295)
Electronic signature
Provides that a contract, recording or signature cannot be denied legal effect or enforceability simply because it is in electronic form or an electronic recording was used in its formation. Provides that if a law requires that a recording be in writing, an electronic recording complies with the law. (SB2176)
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