Lightfoot 'comfortable' about traveling to nation's capital just days after having COVID-19
CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke publicly for the first time since testing positive for COVID-19, and she said she's flying to Washington, D.C. Tuesday night.
Federal guidelines call for avoiding travel until 10 days after diagnosis, but add, if someone must travel, do so with a mask. Mayor Lightfoot says city health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, gave her a special dispensation to go after just a week.
"I have been in constant consultation with Dr. Arwady. And one of the questions we talked about is whether it's prudent or not. She's given me the clearance. I feel very comfortable about going," Lightfoot said.
The mayor didn't reveal how she's getting to D.C.
Under similar circumstances, Midway Airport wouldn't let a member of FOX 32 political editor Mike Flannery’s family fly during Christmas week, when of course she didn't have to travel.
Mayor Lightfoot's must-travel reason: Wednesday’s meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, when she says she'll also meet officials of the Biden administration.
After Chicago’s most violent year in a quarter-century, Lightfoot's been asking for more federal law enforcement.
"I don't want to get ahead of any announcement. But they've clearly heard us, heard me. And I expect to have more conversations about those issues when I’m in Washington, D.C. But there've been some very favorable responses from federal law enforcement in particular," Lightfoot said.
Specifically, the request is for more agents from the ATF to crack down on illegal guns; more U.S. Marshals to track down some of the tens of thousands of fugitives with warrants here; and more assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute those fugitives and gun offenders.