Chicagoans weigh in on the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic
With the end of coronavirus-related restrictions, we asked people how they think Chicago city officials handled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some answers have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
“I think the city leadership, especially Dr. [Alison] Arwady, should be commended. We may not have always liked the decisions, but the city and a great many of its residents owe their life to the decisions she made.”
James Robert
“Very well, I think. It was an extremely difficult situation to be in — you weren’t going to please everyone all the time. There were bound to be hiccups — no one alive has had to deal with a public pandemic of this proportion. All in all, the city and the state did a very good job.”
JD Vincent
“I think they did an excellent job. They didn’t make it political like everything else. Just facts and science.”
Melanie Mclin
“The governor and mayor did the best they could. But COVID is still out there, and not everyone is in favor of the vaccine. It’s a little scary.”
Mary Jilek Yung
“They handled it responsibly. Thank goodness, or we’d still be in the thick of it with more people dying.”
Sheila A. Donovan “I was pleased with the governor’s and mayor’s response.”
Tony Williams
“Certainly better than Florida did by denying it.” Kathey Koziol
“I think things are opening too soon. There will be a lot more COVID hospitalizations in the weeks to come. Too many unvaccinated. We’ll see variants.”
Sharon M. Costanza
“THEY PLAYED THE CARDS THEY WERE DEALT AS WELL AS YOU COULD ASK.”
Bret Garrison
“I feel we all failed miserably. Especially the ‘elected officials.’ ”
Phil Hardison
“Poorly. Way too many contradictions. And many of the rules were ridiculous.” Erich V Dahm
“About as well as any other place that implemented rules. Far better than a lot. A for effort, B-minus for results.”
Al Kabelis
“Being that this was the worst worldwide pandemic since 1918, I think it was handled as well as possible. Mistakes were made, but, all in all, it certainly could have been worse.” Rose Doy
“I think the city handled the pandemic over the last 15 months OK. But we still have a lot to do to keep the pandemic under control.” Eric Arenas