Lollapalooza not ‘superspreader’ event, says city’s top public health official (Chicago)

So far, 203 people who attended have tested positive for COVID-19, Dr. Allison Arwady said.

By Stefano Esposito of The Sun-Times. Excerpt:

"Some two weeks after the opening day of Lollapalooza, the music festival shows no signs of having been a “superspreader event,” the city’s top public health official said Thursday.

Of the approximately 385,000 people who attended, 203 attendees have been diagnosed with COVID-19, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said Thursday during a news conference at City Hall. As of Wednesday, none of those who tested positive have had to be hospitalized or have died, Arwady said.

“The bottom line is we’ve not seen anything that has surprised us related to the Lollapalooza outbreak,” Arwady said.

Of the 203 cases, 127 were among vaccinated attendees and 76 were among unvaccinated attendees, Arwady said. That translates to about four in 10,000 among the vaccinated and 16 in 10,000 for those who were unvaccinated, Arwady said.

Health officials have estimated about 90% of those who attended the four-day event in Grant Park were vaccinated. To get inside, concert-goers had to show proof of being vaccinated or having tested negative for the coronavirus within the previous three days.

“We obviously will continue to do further investigation if necessary. … Any person diagnosed with COVID-19 on or after attending Lollapalooza is included in the analysis,” Arway said. “So these cases may or may not have resulted from transmission at Lolla itself. We’ve been very broad here. Anybody who is potentially associated, we want to investigate.”"