Lori Lightfoot Gets COVID After Standoff With Teachers Over Safety Precautions

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Tuesday that she has tested positive for COVID-19, right after a battle with one of the countrys largest and strongest teachers unions over safety precautions to curb the virus in the citys public schools.

Earlier today, I tested positive for COVID-19. I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted, Lightfoot tweeted. I will continue to work from home while following the CDC guidelines for isolation. This is an urgent reminder for folks to get vaccinated and boosted as its the only way to beat this pandemic.

Earlier today, I tested positive for COVID-19. I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted. I will continue to work from home while following the CDC guidelines for isolation.

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Earlier today, I tested positive for COVID-19. I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted. I will continue to work from home while following the CDC guidelines for isolation.
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) January 11, 2022

The irony of Lightfoot having testing access and the ability to work remotely was not lost on members of the Chicago Teachers Union, who voted last week to move from in-person to remote learning. The rise of COVID-19 cases in Chicago has led to severe staffing shortages in schools, as well as sick children and families of both employees and students.

Last weeks union vote sparked a nasty standoff between the citys teachers and the mayor, who vehemently opposes remote learning. Prior to the vote, Chicago Public Schools had refused to implement measures the union had outlined for a safe work environment such as opt-out testing (which would make students automatically eligible for COVID tests at school unless parents or guardians opt them out), as well as better contact tracing and a metric to trigger a district-wide shift to remote learning.

After the vote, the school district locked educators out of their remote learning accounts, preventing them from teaching children altogether. Eight Chicago Public Schools students who spoke to The TRiiBE said that while remote learning is difficult, they felt there should be no in-person classes as long as CPS refuses to implement proper safety precautions.

In 2020, Chicago received about $1.2 billion in federal funds from the CARES Act to help with pandemic relief. Lightfoot came under fire from activists and city council members for using almost 60% of the discretionary funds to cover overtime hours for police. The city later received almost $2 billion in federal aid as part of the American Rescue Plan, some of which community organizers accused the mayor of allocating to pay down city debt instead of helping residents and schools. The mayors office has denied the allegation to the Chicago Sun-Times.