Chicago sports fans are set to return to the United Center next month for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started, officials announced Thursday, among other loosened restrictions touted as the latest step toward a normal summer with more bustle and less isolation.
The city also is relaxing its pandemic rules on indoor gatherings, such as the number of people allowed inside bars, restaurants and churches, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday. Outdoor events including farmers markets, festivals and outdoor shows also will be increasing capacity, Lightfoot said.
“I believe that the summer of 2021 will look more like ’19 than ’20,” Lightfoot said, echoing a common catchphrase of hers while keeping mum on hotly anticipated annual bashes such as Lollapalooza. “With our announcement today, I think we’re signaling we feel very optimistic about what the summer is going to look like, including some big events, and that’s as far as I’ll go today.”
The United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, and other large indoor venues will be allowed to open at 25% capacity. In a news release, the Blackhawks said their first home game open to fans will be May 9 against the Dallas Stars, and the Bulls’ will be May 7 against the Boston Celtics.
Large indoor venues for meetings, conference rooms and conventions can now operate at the lesser of 25% capacity or 250 people, the city said. Large houses of worship also will be allowed to operate at 25% capacity, the city said.
Guests at private events, such as weddings, who are fully vaccinated will not count toward capacity limits if they are two weeks past their final vaccine dose, the city said.
Lightfoot officials also announced that festivals and general admission outdoor events can now operate with 15 people per 1,000 square feet. Farmers markets and flea markets will be allowed to operate at 25% capacity or 15 people per 1,000 square feet, the city said.
Organizers of Chicago’s largest music festival, Lollapalooza, have not announced 2021 plans. But promoter C3 Presents is “optimistic” the fest will return to Chicago this summer.
“We are excited about the progress in Chicago as the city continues to reopen,” C3 said in a statement Thursday. “We are in close contact with city and public health officials as we continue to plan for the festival and remain optimistic about Lollapalooza 2021 in Grant Park. We encourage fans to do their part in contributing to the forward progress by getting a vaccination as soon as you can.”
Lightfoot’s eased restrictions bring the city in line with state rules. The latest steps toward reopening come after the city postponed further moves due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. But city officials said they feel confident making the moves due to improvements in metrics, including a decrease in the number of people testing positive for the virus, and continued vaccine distribution.
As part of the reopening plan announced Thursday, the Windy City Smokeout, scheduled for July 8-11 at the United Center, will be the first street festival to resume this year. Officials said they expect up to 12,500 people per day, and it will take place in the arena’s parking lot.
All vendors, performers and staff will be required to be fully vaccinated, the city said. Attendees must show proof of vaccination or, if they aren’t inoculated, present proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within three days of entry to the event, according to a statement from Lettuce Entertain You. Proof of either status must be uploaded to a “Health Pass” used by the CLEAR smartphone application, the company said.
Nevertheless, Lightfoot and Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady sought to clarify their remarks from earlier in the week regarding the city’s consideration of trying to entice vaccine stragglers to get inoculated. On Tuesday and Wednesday they previewed a so-called Vax Pass incentive, expected to roll out in May, that would provide vaccinated people with access and preferred seating at concerts and other events. “There is no passport,” Lightfoot said Thursday.
Arwady, meanwhile Thursday, said she doesn’t consider the Vax Pass a “vaccine passport” but rather an incentive to get the shot. She gave an example of someone getting vaccinated and having an “opportunity” to get tickets to concerts that are “open to people who are vaccinated with not all the requirements in place related to masking and social distancing.”
Among the Thursday announcements, Maggie Daley Park’s miniature golf course will be open again starting Friday, while its climbing and bungee wall will open May 28. Officials also will resume their Night Out in the Parks events this summer, with movie screenings happening in 100 parks beginning July 6.
Navy Pier will partially reopen starting Friday, with fireworks throughout May, as announced earlier this month, and Buckingham Fountain will flow once again to kick off the summer.
And starting July 11, the city will shut down vehicle traffic on North State Street from Madison to Lake streets on “select” Sundays throughout the summer to promote outdoor festivities that will be run by the Chicago Loop Alliance. Dubbed “Sundays on State,” the closures will last from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., with programming for pedestrians spanning 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to the organization’s website.
Arwady said the latest move toward loosening restrictions is because of the past couple of weeks of progress in COVID-19 metrics following a third surge that began in March. Both the seven-day rolling average of daily positive cases and the positivity rate have declined, to 527 and 4.7%, respectively, according to Wednesday’s data.
The first figure still isn’t ideal, Arwady said, as she prefers a caseload under 400. But the intensive care unit occupation also beginning to stabilize at a seven-day average of 145 beds per day as of Tuesday was “the ticket to reopening,” she said.
Arwady, along with Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Rosa Escareño, also predicted that should COVID-19 metrics continue improving, the city will be on track to move into Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “bridge” phase for further reopening in two weeks.
Asked if Chicago is looking at potentially a full reopening, as New York City is planning to do by July 1, Lightfoot said the city feels like it’s moving “in that trajectory,” but her approach has been cautious and data-driven to avoid disappointing businesses. Arwady added it’s likely by summer that, if current vaccination and case numbers continue along their current trajectory, the city may be in position for a full reopening over the summer.
The city’s new mitigations were mostly mirrored by a Thursday announcement from the Cook County Department of Public Health, which oversees the suburbs. Starting Friday, that jurisdiction will have the same loosening of indoor restaurant capacity and outdoor festivals in addition to not counting fully vaccinated people toward capacity for private events, among other measures.
The county also teased that in two weeks, there could be further reopening. But Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha Jr. said that those changes will be contingent on COVID-19 metrics declining or stabilizing.
“I don’t want to give more than we can other than to just say that in two weeks we’re going to be evaluating,” Rocha said. “We hope slowly every day to be making it a little easier for us to return back to where we were before COVID.”
