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
“They played the cards they were dealt as well as you could ask.” — Bret Garrison
“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
“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
“I liked when the mayor and Arwady dressed in Rona costumes. That was fun.” — John Kapusciarz
