Mayor Lori Lightfoot has tested negative for COVID-19 and will not be self-quarantining, her office announced Thursday a day after she attended a news conference with a Chicago alderman who found out he had contracted the disease.
Lightfoot announced her test results hours after West Side Ald. Michael Scott disclosed he had tested positive for COVID-19.
“She will continue to follow the guidance of the Department of Public Health over the course of the standard 14-day incubation period. She will not be quarantining given that she was not in close proximity with the alderman for an extended period of time, per CDPH and CDC guidelines on quarantining,” a statement from Lightfoot’s office read. “All participants were wearing masks and practicing proper social distancing for the duration of yesterday’s press conference.”
Scott, who’s Lightfoot’s education committee chairman on the City Council, said he was tested last week during a community event and received the results on Thursday. According to Lightfoot’s statement, Scott was “asymptomatic and following the necessary health protocols.”
“In coordination with the Chicago Department of Public Health, we are reaching out to all those who interacted with Alderman Scott to provide guidance on how they can get tested and any other health and safety measures they should take at this time,” the mayor’s office said. “We will also be conducting a deep clean of the press conference space and the additional spaces where the alderman interacted in the building.”
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Scott was at City Hall with Lightfoot, Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson and public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady when they announced Wednesday that CPS would start the upcoming academic year with remote learning in the fall.
“I am home now, currently with no symptoms,” Scott said. “I am following all the necessary health protocols in accordance with the Chicago Department of Public Health. As a public official, it is my responsibility to share this news because I have a public facing life.”
A CPS spokesman noted that the news conference participants all wore masks and maintained social distancing, adding that Jackson was “not in close proximity with Ald. Scott for an extended period of time, and based on public health guidance quarantine is not recommended in this instance.” A city spokesman also said Arwady had tested negative for COVID-19.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Friday that he had reached out to Scott and wished him well.
When asked about whether Lightfoot should self-quarantine or take more precautions, Pritzker said, “She has a doctor. I’m not going to make advice here about that. Look, I just want people to do the right thing and, you know, keep everybody around them safe and healthy. And, of course, I want the mayor to be safe and healthy. So, whatever the best advice is that she’s been given I know she will follow.”
Earlier Thursday, Lightfoot abruptly canceled an afternoon news conference without explanation.
Scott marks the second Chicago alderman known to have contracted COVID-19. Veteran Far South Side Ald. Carrie Austin announced last month she had tested positive for the disease and was “progressing toward full recovery.”
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