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- Chicago's public health commissioner said Lollapalooza was not a superspreader event.
- Dr. Allison Arwady added 90% of attendees received a vaccine prior to attending the music festival.
- President Joe Biden is strongly encouraging all Americans get a COVID-19 vaccine.
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The Chicago-based music festival Lollapalooza was not a COVID-19 super-spreader event, according to the city's public health commissioner.
Dr. Allison Arwady announced on Thursday that the city identified 203 cases of COVID-19 associated with the festival. Lollapalooza hosted approximately 385,000 attendees.
"There have been no unexpected findings at this point and NO evidence at this point of "super-spreader" event or substantial impact to Chicago's COVID-19 epidemiology," Arwady said in a tweet.
-Dr. Allison Arwady (@DrArwady) August 12, 2021
Arwady said more than 90% of festival attendees were vaccinated. The festival required proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test prior to entry.
None of the 203 attendees who did get COVID-19 from the festival experienced hospitalization or death as of August 11.
Some organizers cancelled upcoming large events - like the New York Auto Show and the New Orleans Jazz Fest - due to rising cases of the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. Cases of COVID-19 are rising again in the US after a steady decline since January, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some private businesses are requiring vaccines upon entry to curb the spread of COVID-19. The US has not required a federal vaccine mandate, but President Joe Biden has urged Americans to get shots and recently mandated all federal employees get them.
Lollapalooza event organizers were not immediately available for comment.