Lollapalooza: The COVID Surge that Wasn't

[greenjar_01]

We heard a lot about how Lollapalooza was a very foolish super spreader event, and that Lightfoot was extremely foolish to let it go on. We saw mocking posts of unmasked young people putting themselves at "extraordinary risk." Fake vaccine cards are being peddled in every alley of the Loop, we were told! How, how could they let it go on, we were asked.

Chicago would surely become the next COVID hotspot.

Two weeks later and, to put it simply, none of that seems to have come to pass.

To be sure, Chicago saw the same Delta surge profile on its curves as everyone else. But the curves on those graphs started before Lollapalooza and, if anything, have even somewhat flattened after Lollapalooza.There's even been a mild trending downward! Here's your Chicago Covid Dashboard: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/covid-19/home/covid-dashboard.html

And we have today, this, from today's Billboard article titled "Lollapalooza Wasn't a 'Super Spreader' Event, Say Chicago Health Officials":

Lollapalooza reported last week that 90% of its attendees -- an estimated 385,000, not including crew, staff, artists and their teams across four days -- were vaccinated. Of those vaccinated, .0004% have reported testing positive, according to the CDPH. Of those who attended unvaccinated -- a negative COVID-19 test from at least 72 hours prior to the festival was required for entry -- .0016% have reported testing positive. The CDPH also reported that as of Wednesday, Aug. 11, there have been no reported hospitalizations or deaths linked to those cases.

The entire article is a fascinating read, even if you're a paranoid who must, absolutely must believe that the Chicago health authorities are definitiely lying about this. Here's the link: Lollapalooza Wasn't a 'Super Spreader' Event, Say Chicago Health Officials.

Pitchfork and Riotfest will be fun.

What's the moral of the story? Vaccines work. Most people do the right thing. And vaccines work. Now rock on.

[lark]

1. Wow, this is a little premature, but if this holds, it proves vaccine passports work!

I want them and now, but I know it won't happen immediately if at all due to the murderous/suicidal right.

[NickB79]

2. It will be interesting comparing this to Sturgis

We're assured that the vaccination rate there will be far lower than 90%.

[BannonsLiver]

3. "The Chicago officials are in league with the lying demons at the CDC!11"

[Scrivener7]

4. It wouldn't show up in Chicago. It would show up where the attendees went home to.

[greenjar_01]

6. My dude, Lolla's not like New Year's Eve in Times Square...people from Chicago actually go

Surrounding suburban counties are seeing slightly more in terms of numbers, but nothing like the doom predicted.

What was predicted didn't happen. Simple as that.

[Scrivener7]

7. But, "my dude," from the article:

Additionally, there were no contact tracing elements or requirements to attend Lollapalooza.

There is no reported surge. That may very well be accurate, but I'm thinking if I got Covid, my first call wouldn't be to Lollapalooza. That might just be me.

[greenjar_01]

8. But there's no surge in Chicago, my guy

We were supposed to be awash in Lolla-generated COVID, and we ain't. According to the CDPH.

It's a fucking win, man. Take the win, for fuck's sake.

[Scrivener7]

9. Yes. It is great to hear it. But I am, by nature, a pessimist. I hope this continues to bear

out.

But I am remembering the initial reports from Sturgis last year saying the same thing, and the subsequent reports saying over 200K were infected as a result of Sturgis.

I don't even know which of those reports is true.

The difference, of course, is that most of these people were tested or vaxxed. So fingers crossed that this is the final word on the festival.

[greenjar_01]

10. It's important that we not become the party of shutdowns for shutdown's sake

I will keep folks posted on our numbers here, and will certainly report out if they go the other way.

But I think this is a big deal, and it's contra much of the aggressive nonsense about vaccine ineffectiveness that we've been hearing from anti-vax forces, including on this board.

[Scrivener7]

11. .

[mopinko]

5. i wonder if people got the shot so they could go.

sort of an anti-spreader.

[Elessar Zappa]

12. The real super spreader

is gonna be Sturgis. 700k of mostly unvaccinated from all over the country.

[greenjar_01]

13. Vaccines make a difference

Definitely.

[Initech]

16. Yeah the people at Lollapalooza were vaccinated.

The people at Sturgis? I'm not counting on it.

[IcyPeas]

14. 203 cases of COVID-19 linked to Chicago's Lollapalooza... from ABC news

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/203-cases-covid-19-linked-chicagos-lollapalooza-79422801

CHICAGO -- Chicago health officials on Thursday reported 203 cases of COVID-19 connected to Lollapalooza, casting it as a number that was anticipated and not yet linked to any hospitalizations or deaths.

“Nothing unexpected here,” Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said at a news conference. “No sign of a ‘superspreader event’. But clearly with hundreds of thousands of people attending Lollapalooza we would expect to see some cases.”

The four-day music festival, which started two weeks ago, drew about 385,000 people to a lakefront park. Critics questioned holding the event during the pandemic. Footage showed tightly packed crowds at concerts and on public transportation with few masks in sight. Last year's festival was canceled because of COVID-19.

[NickB79]

15. And those are just direct cases

As I recall, Sturgis 2020 only had around 400 direct cases as well.

But subsequent studies modeling who THOSE people infected, and who THOSE people infected, and so on, concluded it potentially seeded 200,000 infections across the US over 6 months.

And now that we know the vaccinated can still spread the virus, those 200 known cases so far are cold comfort, IMO.

[greenjar_01]

17. Yeah, that's not a lot

Good luck convincing people to panic with 203 positive cases out of almost 400,000 attendees and no hospitalizations.