Mayor Lori Lightfoot 'Disappointed' In CPS Struggles With COVID Testing, Contact Tracing
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot isn't happy with how COVID testing and contact tracing is going so far this school year at the Chicago Public Schools.
The mayor said she's disappointed that the district has had to delay full implementation of plans to test all students and staff for COVID-19, and that the district still needs to hire more people to contact those who have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus.
Lightfoot said it all boils down to better COVID case investigations and better contact tracing, and she's confident things will improve.
However, the problem has parents and members of the Chicago Teachers Union concerned.
CBS 2 has reported on the confusion over how COVID cases are being recorded by CPS since students returned to in-person classes in August.
For example, the district website on Tuesday showed a total of 506 actionable cases from Aug. 29 to Sep. 20. The website states that "actionable" cases represent all confirmed COVID-19 cases, including those reported as a result of a test taken inside a school and those self-reported outside a school.
Meantime, if you head to the CTU website, they're tracking 2,366 cases at 494 schools; a huge disparity.
In an interview with WTTW, Lightfoot admitted she was disappointed in the way testing and contact tracing have been handled so far by CPS, but when asked if she held interim chief executive officer Jose Torres responsible for those failures, she refused to say, adding that the plan now is to move forward.
That includes making sure the Chicago Department of Public Health is fully engaged with CPS.
Now, instead of displaying COVID cases weekly, the district is updating those numbers daily.
"This is not a mystery anymore. We know how to do contact tracing, we know how to do case investigations, and we've got to make sure that CPS is using the tools at its disposal to do just that," she said.
Meanwhile, CTU members are holding a virtual speak out for safety event Tuesday night
The union said they want to hear from parents and students about their experiences at CPS schools so far, particularly when it comes to how COVID-19 is handled.